Southern Baptist 
foreign Missions 




Glass Ifix^^dO 

Book. TFf3 

Copyright K? 



COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. 




THE THREE SECRETARIES 

JAMES B. TAYLOR, 1845-1871 

H. A. TUPPER, 1872-1893 

.R. J. WILLINGHAM, 1893- 



Southern Baptist 
Foreign Missions 



^ 



t. b: ray and others 



" Expect great things from God, 
Undertake great things for God." 



Sunday School Board 

Southern Baptist Convention 

Nashville, Tenn. 






<£> 



COPYRIGHTED 1910, SUNDAY SCHOOL BOARD 
SOUTHERN BAPTIST CONVENTION 



)CLA2?1080 



TO 

OUR FOREIGN MISSIONARIES 

WHOSE DEVOTION HAS BROUGHT SALVATION 

TO THE NATIONS ABROAD AND INSPIRATION TO OUR 

PEOPLE AT HOME THIS BOOK IS 

AFFECTIONATELY 

DEDICATED 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTEB PAGE 

Introduction 5 

I. Baptist Missions Before 1845— T. B. Ray 9 

II. The Foreign Mission Board of the Southern 

Baptist Convention— T. B. Ray 30 

III. The South China Mission— E. Z. Simmons 51 

IV. The Central China Mission— R. T. Bryan 69 

V. The North China Mission— C. W. Pruitt 92 

VI. The Interior China Mission — Annie Jenkins 

Sallee 114 

VII. The African Mission— C. E. Smith 124 

VIII. The Italian Mission— D. G. Whittinghill 148 

IX. S The Brazilian Mission— S. L. Ginsburg__ 174 

X. The Mexican Mission— R. P. Mahon 198 

XI. The Japan Mission— E. N. Walne 218 

XII. The Argentine Mission— S. M. Sowell 242 

Appendix A 263 

Appendix B 264 

Appendix C 265 

Appendix D 266 

Appendix E 269 

Appendix F 273 

Appendix G 274 

(4) 



INTRODUCTION. 



In the preparation of this book, we have asked 
a missionary on every field where missions are 
fostered by the Foreign Mission Board of the 
Southern Baptist Convention, to write the story 
of the work done on his field. Every author has 
been left to tell his story in his own way. This 
gives us first-hand information and a greater vari- 
ety of treatment than would have been possible if 
one writer had written about all the fields. 

In order to give a good background for the 
chapters on the fields, we have prepared two 
chapters upon the rise and growth of mission senti- 
ment in our country, with special reference to the 
Southern States. Southern Baptist appreciation 
of missions was not an accident, nor did it have a 
sudden beginning in 1845, when the Southern 
Baptist Convention was formed. It was the 
product of forces which have been at work in our 
denomination since the rise of missionary enthusi- 
asm in England in the latter part of the eighteenth 
century. Our forefathers were in close touch 
with this movement, and have transmitted to us a 
wealth of mission sentiment which, to understand 
and appreciate, we must trace to its historic con- 
nections. 

(5) 



6 Southern Baptist Foreign Missions. 

The outlines found at the end of every chapter 
are not outlines of the chapters themselves, but 
are designed to state as clearly as possible what is 
found upon the field under consideration. In this 
way statistics concerning the fields are simplified 
and rendered more easily accessible. The names 
of the missionaries on every field are given every 
month in the Foreign Mission Journal* 

We send forth this book in the hope that those 
who read and study will do so in the same spirit of 
prayer which was upon the members of the Not- 
tinghamshire Baptist Association when they 
passed the resolutions in 1784 that established 
the Monthly Concert of Prayer for Missions. To 
help us catch this spirit, we give in full these reso- 
lutions, which were the true origin of modern 
missions, as follows : 

"Upon a motion being made to the ministers and 
messengers of the associate Baptist churches 
assembled at Nottinghamshire, respecting meet- 
ings for prayer, to bewail the low estate of religion 
and earnestly implore a revival of our churches 
and of the general cause of our Bedeemer and for 
that end to wrestle with God for the effusion of 
his Holy Spirit, which alone can produce the 
blessed effect, it was unanimously resolved to rec- 
ommend to all our churches and congregations, the 
spending of one hour in this important exercise, on 
the first Monday of every calendar month. 



*See Appendix "A" for bibliography. 



Introduction. 7 

"We hereby solemnly exhort all the churches in 
our connection to engage heartily and persever- 
ingly in the prosecution of this plan. And as it 
may be well to endeavor to keep the same hour as 
a token of our unity herein, it is supposed that the 
following scheme may suit many congregations, 
viz. : to meet on the first Monday evening in May, 
June and July from eight to nine; in August, 
from seven to eight; September and October, six 
to seven; November, December, January and 
February, from five to six; March, from six to 
seven ; and April, from seven to eight. Neverthe- 
less, if this hour or even the particular evening 
should not suit in particular places, we wish our 
brethren to fix on one more convenient to them- 
selves. 

"We hope also that as many of our brethren 
who live at a distance from our places of worship 
may not be able to attend there, that as many as 
are conveniently situated in a village or neighbor- 
hood, will unite in small societies at the same 
time. 

"And if any single individual should be so situ- 
ated as not to be able to attend to this duty in 
society with others, let him retire at the appointed 
hour, to unite the breath of prayer in private with 
those who are thus engaged in a more public 
manner. The grand object in prayer is to be, that 
the Holy Spirit may be poured down on our min- 
isters and churches, that sinners may be converted, 
the saints edified, and the name of God glorified. 



8 Southern Baptist Foreign Missions. 

At the same time remember, we trust you will not 
confine your requests to your own societies, or to 
our own immediate connection ; let the whole in- 
terest of the Redeemer be affectionately remem- 
bered, and the spread of the Gospel to the most 
distant parts of the habitable globe, be the object 
of your most fervent requests. We shall rejoice 
if any other Christian societies of our own, or 
other denominations, will unite with us, and we 
do now invite them most cordially to join heart 
and hand in the attempt. 

"Who can tell what the consequences of such a 
united effort in prayer may be? Let us plead 
with God the many gracious promises of his Word, 
which relate to the future success of his gospel. 
He has said, 'I will yet for this be inquired of by 
the house of Israel, to do it for them, I will in- 
crease them with men like a flock.' Ezek. 36: 
37. Surely we have love enough to Zion to set 
apart one hour at a time twelve times in a year to 
seek her welfare." 

Is not the revival of this Concert of Prayer one 
of our greatest needs? The modern missionary 
enterprise was born in prayer ; it must advance in 
the power of prayer. We pass the call on to you. 

T. B. Kay. 

Richmond, Va., April, 1910. 



CHAPTER I. 



BAPTIST FOREIGN MISSIONS PRIOR TO 1845. 

To gain a just appreciation of the devotion of 
Southern Baptists to foreign missions, we must 
trace first the rise of the missionary movement in 
England; second, its development in America 
down to 1845 ; and third, follow the story of the 
foreign mission endeavor by Southern Baptists 
under the leadership of their own Foreign Mission 
Board. 

Eisb in England. 

One of the most potent factors in the modern 
missionary enterprise has been the "Monthly Con- 
cert of Prayer" which is used by all denominations 
of Christians. It was originated by the ministers 
of the Nottinghamshire Baptist Association in 
1784. These ministers drew up a resolution call- 
ing upon all Baptist churches to observe one 
stated hour every month in earnest, united prayer 
for the support of pure religion to the ends of the 
earth. Their exhortation ran : 

"Let the spread of the gospel to the most distant 
parts of the habitable globe be the object of your 
fervent requests."* 



*See Introduction. 



10 Southern Baptist Foreign Missions. 

Little did they dream that they were inaugurat- 
ing the modern missionary enterprise and giving 
it an agency which would prove one of its greatest 
supports. 

The date usually given for the beginning of the 
modern missionary enterprise is 1792, but we must 
go back to the institution of this "Monthly Concert 
of Prayer" in 1784 for its inspiration. It is grati- 
fying to learn that modern missionary endeavor 
took its origin in prayer. 

The situation among the Baptists of England at 
that time was gloomy. They were not very numer- 
ous ; the paralyzing pall of a limited theology 
hung over them; division severed their scattered 
ranks ; they had few ministers of culture ; and a 
general air of discouragement enveloped them. 
From the earnest hearts of some who felt the dis- 
tressing weight of inactivity in behalf of the lost, 
came this call to prayer. Prayer and a great 
purpose were the powers which brought to this 
divided and discouraged people unity and leader- 
ship. It made a new people and saved them for 
an honored place in the service of our God and our 
fellow men. Dr. Andrew Fuller, in speaking of 
the benefits of the new missionary movement, says : 
"A new bond of union was furnished between dis- 
tant ministers and churches. Some who had 
backslidden from God were restored, and others 
who had long been poring over their unfruitful- 
ness and questioning the reality of their personal 
religion, having their attention directed to Christ 



Baptist Foreign Missions Prior to 1845. 11 

and His Kingdom, lost their fears and found that 
peace which in other pursuits they had sought in 
vain." 

Of course, it cannot be claimed that the Bap- 
tists of England originated the idea of foreign 
missions in modern times. As early as 1705, Fred- 
erick IV of Denmark sent out to Tranquebar, 
India, Bartholomew Ziegenbalg and Henry Plut- 
schau. The Moravians, in 1732, sent missionaries 
to St. Thomas, and in 1733 sent other missionaries 
aries to Greenland. Other Protestant mission- 
aries were sent out from the continent of Europe. 
These efforts, however, were either in the form of 
colonies or the missionaries were sent out to col- 
onies already formed. It was given to these 
English Baptist ministers of Nottinghamshire 
Association, under the leadership of Carey, Fuller, 
Eyland, and others, to launch the mission enter- 
prise which made the last century glorious by 
organizing the first modern Foreign Mission 
Board. 

At the meeting of the Nottinghamshire Baptist 
Association, May 30, 1792, William Carey preached 
his famous sermon on Isaiah 54 : 2, 3, in which he 
sounded the note for missionary effort to the end 
of time — "Expect great things from God, under- 
take great things for God." "It was as if the 
sluices of his soul were thrown fully open and the 
flood that had been accumulating for years rushed 
forth in full force and irresistible power." 

Even then, the Association, after deliberating 



12 Southern Baptist Foreign Missions. 

awhile, was just about to adjourn, when William 
Carey, seizing Dr. Fuller by the hand, imploringly 
asked, "And are you, after all, going again to do 
nothing?" This was a dramatic hour. The time 
at last had come for the turning of the tide. 
Carey's zeal compelled the Association to take the 
irrevocable step which resulted in the organization 
of the first great modern missionary society for 
the preaching of the gospel in foreign parts. It 
was resolved, "That a plan be prepared against 
the next ministers' meeting at Kettering for form- 
ing a Baptist Association for the propagation of 
the gospel among heathen." We shall sympa- 
thize with the hesitancy of the brethren and under- 
stand the colossal faith of Carey if we will listen 
to Dr. Fuller's statement of some of the difficulties 
that faced them. He says: "We were inexperi- 
enced in the work; we knew of no opening for a 
mission in any one part of the world more than 
another; we had no funds to meet the expense 
that must attend an undertaking of this kind; 
our situation in an inland part of the country was 
inconvenient for foreign correspondence; the 
persons who would have the management would 
live at such a distance from each other as to ren- 
der frequent consultation impracticable; and 
finally, in forming such a society, there would be 
danger of its falling under irreligious influence. 
From these and other considerations, those who 
were expected to engage in the work entered upon 
it with much fear and trembling." 



Baptist Foreign Missions Prior to 1845. 13 

Previous to this tidal hour, the hand of God had 
been shaping a deep undercurrent which eventu- 
ated in the action of the Minister's Meeting at 
Nottinghamshire. Not the least of these Prov- 
idences had been the shaping of Carey, himself. 
He was born at Paulerspury, near Northampton, 
August 17, 1761. His father was a schoolmaster. 
One of the remarkable traits of the boy was his 
resolution to finish whatever he had begun, no 
matter what were the difficulties in the way. He 
had an intense thirst after knowledge. At four- 
teen he was apprenticed to a shoemaker. He was 
converted in 1783 — about a year before the issu- 
ance of the call to the a Concert of Prayer." On 
the walls of his shop he hung a map of the world, 
drawn on sheets of paper, and on it he entered 
facts concerning the condition of the nations. 
"Captain Cook's Voyages Around the World" was 
the first book that called out his sympathies for 
the heathen. He was pastor at Moulton, where on 
a salary of f 75 a year he struggled to build up the 
church. Afterward he went to the pastorate of 
the church at Leicester. At the meeting of the 
Nottinghamshire Association in 1791, after listen- 
ing to powerful sermons by Doctors Sutcliff and 
Fuller, Carey raised the question of the duty of 
preaching the gospel to the heathen world. The 
most this Association would do was to call for a 
publication of Carey's pamphlet which had been 
prepared for some time, entitled, "An Inquiry 
Into the Obligations of Christians to Use Means 



14 Southern Baptist Foreign Missions. 

for the Conversion of the Heathens." This pam- 
phlet, which doubtless contains the main argu- 
ments presented in his famous sermon at the 
Association, in May, 1792, was published a short 
time before the meeting of the Association.* 

Doubtless the period between May and October, 
1792, was one of earnest prayer and anxiety. The 
day for carrying out the instructions of the Asso- 
ciation at its meeting at Nottinghamshire arrived. 
The simple record reads thus : 

"At the ministers' meeting at Kettering, October 
2, 1792, after the public services of the day were 
ended, the ministers retired to consult farther on 
the matter and to lay a foundation at least for a 
society, when the following resolutions were pro- 
posed and unanimously agreed to: 

"1. Desirous of making an effort for the propa- 
gation of the gospel among the heathen, agreeably 
to what is recommended in Brother Carey's late 
publication on that subject, we, whose names ap- 
pear to the subsequent subscription, do solemnly 
agree to act in society together for that purpose. 

"2. As in the present divided state of Christen- 
dom, it seems that each denomination, by exert- 
ing itself separately, is most likely to accomplish 
the great ends of a mission, it is agreed that this 
society be called, The Particular (Calvinistic) 
Baptist Society for Propagating the Gospel among 
the Heathen. 



*Lately republished in a volume with others. 



Baptist Foreign Missions Prior to 1845. 15 

"3. As such an undertaking must needs be at- 
tended with expense, we agree immediately to 
open a subscription for the above purpose and to 
recommend it to others. 

"4. Every person who shall subscribe ten pounds 
at once, or ten shillings and sixpence annually, 
shall be considered a member of the society. 

"5. That the Eev. John Byland, Eeynold Hogg, 
William Carey, John Sutcliff, and Andrew Fuller, 
be appointed a committee, three of whom shall be 
empowered to act in carrying into effect the pur- 
poses of this society. 

"6. That the Eev. Eeynold Hogg be appointed 
treasurer and the Eev. Andrew Fuller secretary. 

"7. That the subscriptions be paid in at the 
Northampton Ministers' Meeting, October 31, 1792, 
at which time the subject shall be considered more 
particularly by the committee and other subscrib- 
ers who may be present. 

" Signed, John Eyland, Eeynold Hogg, John 
Sutcliff, Andrew Fuller, Abraham Greenwood, 
Edward Sherman, Joshua Burton, Samuel Pearce, 
Thomas Blundel, William Heighton, John Eayres, 
Joseph Timms, whose subscriptions in all 
amounted to £13:2:6" ($63.52). 

The place to which "the ministers retired to 
consult farther" was in the little back parlor of 
Mrs. Beeby Wallis, widow of good deacon Beeby 
Wallis, of the church at Kettering, who had passed 
away six months previously. 

Dr. Godwin, in his sermon preached in Ketter- 



16 Southern Baptist Foreign Missions. 

ing fifty years afterward, beautifully says: "The 
origin of the mightiest rivers is often found in 
some sequestered spot. And Kettering has the 
honor of being the birthplace of this society; and 
whatever political or commercial changes may 
pass over this town, it will descend to posterity 
associated with all that is great and holy in our 
missionary enterprise. 'My thoughts are not your 
thoughts, neither are my ways your ways, saith 
the Lord of Hosts.' " 

The committee met November 13, 1792. A letter 
from Mr. Carey, who was not present, called atten- 
tion to the fact that a Mr. Thomas, a surgeon of 
Bengal, India, was then in London trying to raise 
money for a Mission to India, and was also very 
anxious to find a companion to engage in the work 
with him. Mr. Fuller was appointed to confer 
with Mr. Thomas. 

It developed at the next meeting of the commit- 
tee, January 10, 1793, that Mr. Thomas was the 
son of a Baptist deacon at Fairford in Gloucester- 
shire, and that he had gone out early in life as a 
surgeon to India. He was so affected by condi- 
tions in India, that in 1785, while on a visit to 
England, he was baptized and licensed to preach 
in order that he might minister to the needs of the 
people. At the time of the organization of the 
society, Mr. Thomas was back in England on a 
second visit and engaged, as indicated, in raising 
funds for a mission to India. After conference, 
"the committee being fully of the opinion that a 




WILLIAM CAREY 

Baptistry in Calcutta, India, in which 
Judson was Baptized 



Pulpit in which Carey Preached 
ADONIRAM JUDSON 



Baptist Foreign Missions Prior to 1845. 17 

door was now open in the East Indies for the 
preaching of the gospel to the heathen, agreed to 
invite Mr. Thomas to go out under the patronage 
of the Society; engaging to furnish him with a 
companion if a suitable one could be obtained. 
Brother Carey was then asked whether, in case 
Mr. Thomas should accede to our proposal, he was 
inclined to accompany him. To this, he readily 
replied in the affirmative." While the Society 
was still in sesson, Mr. Thomas, impatient to see 
his future colleague, entered the room. Mr. Carey 
rose to greet him. They fell on each other's necks 
and wept. 

"From Mr. Thomas' account, we saw," said Mr. 
Fuller, "there is a gold mine in India, but it seems 
almost as deep as the center of the earth. Who 
will venture to explore it?" 

" 'I will go down/ said Carey, 'but remember, 
you must hold the ropes.' We solemnly agreed to 
do so, nor while we live shall we desert him." 

The question of how to raise the necessary funds 
now confronted the Society. They were at the 
beginning of the business of taking offerings for 
missions, and no habit of giving to this cause had 
been established. It was a hard task to raise 
money for a cause so imperfectly understood and 
against which there was so much positive opposi- 
tion. As Mr. Fuller tramped through the streets 
of London, soliciting contributions, often he would 
turn from the more public streets into side alleys 
that he might not be seen as he wept over his 

2 



18 Southern Baptist Foreign Missions, 

meager collections. What a picture! Andrew 
Fuller weeping through the streets of London w T as 
a perfect picture of many another Secretary of a 
Foreign Mission Board, as he has striven in tearful 
anxiety to raise funds from reluctant contributors 
for the cause that lay so heavy upon his heart. 

Great affliction came to Carey from the fact that 
his wife was unwilling to accompany him upon his 
mission. She was a pious woman and loved her 
husband, but she did not share with him the desire 
to go upon a mission in a foreign land. She re- 
fused to go, and it was decided that she should 
remain in England with the children while her 
husband went out to India. This was a sore trial, 
but Carey felt called of God to endure it. 

Accordingly, he and Mr. Thomas made prepara- 
tions to embark. They took ship in a vessel sent 
out by the East India Company. They had not 
proceeded far before their real mission was dis- 
covered, and they were compelled to disembark. 
In this way they felt for the first time the ironf 
hand of opposition from the East India Company 
— that commercial organization which obstructed 
the progress of missions in India for many, many 
years. Carey and Thomas turned back to London, 
greatly perplexed. Their misfortune, however, 
proved to be a blessing in disguise, for before they 
were ready to sail a little later, on a Danish vessel, 
Mrs. Carey consented to go with her husband. 

On June 13, 1793, this band of missionaries — 
Carey, his wife, four children, his wife's sister. 



Baptist Foreign Missions Prior to 1845. 19 

and Mr. Thomas — put out to sea on the Kron 
Princessin Maria. 

The Progress in America. 

To follow Carey and his associates in their 
efforts to establish a mission in India would be a 
grateful task. What hardships they endured 
from poverty, sicknesw, and the opposition of the 
East India Company ! How glorious that achieve- 
ment in translating the Scriptures into the lan- 
guage of one-third of the population of the globe 
and beginning the work which has already resulted 
in the salvation of millions of the human race! 
Blessings be upon the Dutch who gave the mis- 
sionaries asylum and a base of operations at 
Serampore! The fifteen miles square about that 
city, owned by the Dutch as a trading station, was 
indeed a refuge for the storm-tossed of India. 

We have dwelt at length upon the rise of the 
modern mission movement in England, because it 
has such an important bearing upon the movement 
among our own people in the United States. But 
we must now turn aside from these operations to 
trace the progress of mission sentiment and en- 
deavor in our own country. 

It will be seen that as the rise of the great for- 
eign mission movement unified and revived our 
Baptist brethren in England, the incoming of that 
same tremendous purpose to preach the gospel to 
all the world, uplifted and unified our scattered 
and despised people in the United States. 



20 Southern Baptist Foreign Missions. 

Mention has been made of the East India Com- 
pany. Its misdoings strikingly illustrate how 
the providence of God can overrule the machina- 
tions of men and make their very evil deeds praise 
him. We saw how the refusal of this Company 
to allow Carey to travel in its ship, delayed him 
long enough to persuade his wife to go with him. 
Its refusal to allow other missionaries to sail in its 
ships caused many missionaries to first sail to 
America and then take ship for India. When 
these missionaries were on our shores, they were 
hospitably received in our homes and presented 
the cause of missions in our churches. This con- 
tact had much to do with creating sympathy in 
America for the mission work in the Far East. 
Then, too, the misdeeds of the East India Company 
provoked Claudius Buchanan, one of its former 
chaplains, to write "The Star in the East,"* a pam- 
phlet which finally broke its power in England 
and which, republished in America, was largely 
responsible for the rise of mission sentiment in 
the United States and the organiaztion of the 
American Boards. It was the reading of this 
pamphlet which decided Adoniram Judson to offer 
his life for service in the foreign field. 

Dr. William Staughton, who afterward became 
the first Corresponding Secretary of the old Tri- 
ennial Convention, was a member of that famous 
meeting in England which gave birth to the En- 



* Found in "Highway of Mission Thought." 



Baptist Foreign Missions Prior to 18If5. 21 

glish Baptist Society. Dr. Staughton became a 
living link between the Baptists of the two coun- 
tries, and his influence for missions was profound. 

It is not surprising, therefore, to discover that 
our American Baptists, who had such intimate 
touch with the English movement, should make 
substantial contributions ^to the work in India. 
This brought Carey into correspondence with the 
American Baptists. His letters to them were 
frequent, and some of these letters were published 
the United States and the organization of the 
in the Massachusetts Baptist Missionary Mag- 
azine, the organ of the missionary society 
which had been organized in 1802 for work 
among the American Indians. How far all 
these influences affected the minds of our Bap- 
tist fathers cannot be said. They certainly 
produced a profound impression and were 
the leaven that permeated our people with a con- 
sciousness of their obligation to help evangelize 
the world. 

It would be most interesting if we could trace 
in detail how the English movement affected our 
Southern people. We can give only an instance or 
two. The first church in America to adopt the 
"Monthly Concert of Prayer" was the old Pee Dee 
Baptist Church in South Carolina. The news of 
this event is reported in the English Baptist Reg- 
ister, May 13, 1790. The record of the church in 
Charleston, S. C, deserves especial mention. It 
not only adopted the "Quarterly Concert of 



22 Southern Baptist Foreign Missions. 

Prayer/' but early adopted the "Monthly Concert 
of Prayer/' in harmony with the suggestion of the 
English brethren, and did much toward encourag- 
ing the organization of these Concerts of Prayer 
in the churches adjacent to Charleston. So inter- 
ested in missions was this church that when its 
pastor, Eichard Furinan, was about to abandon 
his purpose to attend the meeting in Philadelphia, 
which formed the Triennial Convention, "his 
church overruled his objection, made a liberal con- 
tribution for his use, and gave him leave of absence 
until the winter/' It should be remembered also 
that Eichard Furman was one of the most active 
men in America in gathering and forwarding 
funds for the support of the work fostered by the 
English Baptist Society in the Far East. As 
much as |500 is credited to him in one report. 
These instances are enough to show that our 
Southern churches caught the spirit of the English 
movement and gave to it both prayers and money. 
But the greatest hour in the history of missions 
among American Baptists was the one when Adon- 
iram Judson wrote to Dr. Baldwin, Pastor of the 
Second Baptist Church, Boston. "Should there 
ever be formed a Baptist Society for the support of 
a Mission in these parts, I shall be ready to con- 
sider myself their missionary." No trumpet call 
ever sounded a more imperious note. It was a 
summons to battle, and the hosts responded with 
an enthusiasm which did them everlasting honor. 
What an hour it was ! 



Baptist Foreign Missions Prior to 18If5. 23 

Among a number of missionaries sent out to the 
Far East in February, 1812, by the American 
Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions 
(Congregationalist) was Adoniram Judson. On 
the way out he fell to studying the Scriptures rel- 
ative to the subject of baptism. He knew he 
would be thrown into contact with the Baptists 
of Serampore, and he felt that he should be pre- 
pared to controvert their arguments about the 
manner and purpose of baptism. As he proceeded 
in his studies, both on shipboard and after his 
arrival in Calcutta, he became convinced that the 
Baptist position was the Scriptural one. He pre- 
sented the matter to his wife, and she soon came 
to share his views. Soon afterward they were 
immersed by Dr. William Ward in Calcutta, Sep- 
tember 6, 1812. 

Luther Eice, another of these missionaries, after 
weeks of study in Calcutta, and after hearing a 
sermon on baptism by Mr. Judson, adopted the 
same views and was immersed by Dr. Ward on 
November 1, 1812. By these acts a very delicate 
and trying situation was created. It became 
apparent at once that the Judsons and Mr. Kice 
could not proceed further with their fellow mis- 
sionaries, with whom they had gone out. It was 
just as imperative that all relations be broken 
with the Congregationalist Board in Boston, 
which had sent them out. Both of these steps 
were unhesitatingly taken. The Judsons and 
Eice separated from their companions and in- 



24 Southern Baptist Foreign Missions. 

formed the American Board of their decision. 
The Baptist missionaries at Serampore generously 
undertook to care for Judson and Bice until they 
could get support from either America or England. 
The question of support was not so serious as the 
turning from old associations, friends and tradi- 
tions. 

The courageous act of Judson and Bice was met 
by a response in America just as courageous. The 
Baptists accepted the challenge and threw them- 
selves enthusiastically into the foreign mission 
enterprise with a purpose which has made them 
one of the mightiest missionary forces in all the 
world. As President Francis Wayland has well 
said: 

"The change in sentiment in Messrs. Judson and 
Bice was just the event which was required to 
awaken the dormant energies of the Baptists in 
America and concentrate them all, in every part 
of the country, upon one object, truly Christian in 
its essence and yet denominational in its form. 
It was universally acknowledged that in this mat- 
ter the providence of God had left us no option. 
Not to enter at once and vigorously on the work 
of missions would be to belie our profession as 
Christians and expose us to the merited scorn of 
the whole religious world." 

Immediately upon receipt of the "letter from 
Judson announcing his change of views, the Ameri- 
can Baptists began to plan for his support. 
Within a month from the receipt of this letter by 



Baptist Foreign Missions Prior to 1845. 25 

Dr. Baldwin, the "Baptist Society for Propagating 
the Gospel in India and Other Foreign Parts" was 
formed in Boston. The first plan was to form 
societies in this country which should support the 
missionaries in connection with the parent society 
in England. The English, however, declined to 
make such an arrangement, believing it would be 
better for the American Baptists to organize their 
own foreign mission work on an independent basis. 
The Boston society inspired other centers to form 
similar organizations, and the spread of these soci- 
eties over the entire country became a marked 
feature in the development of the foreign mission 
enterprise. 

A great impetus was given to this movement by 
the return of Luther Bice from India in 1813. 
Having allied himself with the already organized 
Boston society, he threw himself with marvelous 
zeal and industry into the effort to arouse Ameri- 
can Baptists upon the subject of foreign missions, 
telling his story from one end of the country to the 
other and pleading his great cause with rare elo- 
quence and power. 

Soon the foreign missionary societies began to 
multiply. The "Baptist Foreign Missionary So- 
ciety of Virginia" was organized in Richmond, 
October 28, 1813; the Missionary Society in 
Charleston, S. C, probably in November in the 
same year ; the "Philadelphia Baptist Society for 
Foreign Missions" in December, and before the 
close of 1813, the "Savannah Baptist Society for 



26 Southern Baptist Foreign Missions. 

Foreign Missions/' the "Beaufort, S. C, District 
Missionary Society for Foreign Missions/' and the 
"North Carolina Baptist Society for Foreign Mis- 
sions" came into existence. By the time of the 
general meeting in Philadelphia, May 18, 1814, 
societies had been formed in Baltimore, Freder- 
icksburg, Va., Washington, D. C, Kentucky, Dela- 
ware, and in other sections of the country. This 
movement was fostered chiefly by Mr. Rice, who 
organized twenty-five new societies and enlisted 
many more in the first year of his service after his 
return. 

It soon became evident that some sort of con- 
certed action was necessary to give continuity to 
the work and to carry it forward in the most 
economical and effective manner. Accordingly, 
on the 18th of May, 1814, there assembled in Phil- 
adelphia thirty-three delegates representing the 
missionary societies and other religious bodies of 
the Baptist persuasion from eleven different States 
and from the District of Columbia, for the purpose 
of "organizing a plan for eliciting,* combining, 
and directing the efforts of the whole denomina- 
tion in one sacred effort for sending the giad tid- 
ings of salvation to the heathen and to nations des- 
titute of pure gospel light." This Convention, 
small in numbers but weighty in influence, has 
the added significance of being the first national 
gathering of the Baptists of America. 



*See Appendix "B." 



Baptist Foreign Missions Prior to 1845. 27 

Eichard Furman, of Charleston, S. C, w&s 
chosen President of this Convention. He was, 
"perhaps the foremost Baptist in America." 
Thomas Baldwin, of Massachusetts, to whom 
Judson had written announcing his change of 
views, was chosen Secretary.* 

After six days' deliberation, a Constitution was 
adopted which formed the "General Missionary 
Convention of the Baptist Denomination of the 
United States of America for Foreign Missions." 
This Convention became known as the Triennial 
Convention from the fact that it met every three 
years. 

The Constitutiont of this Convention provided 
for the appointment of a Board of twenty-one 
Commissioners called "The Baptist Board of For- 
eign Missions for the United States," which should 
transact business during the recesses of the Con- 
vention. The first meeting of the Board was held 
May 24, 1814. Mr. Kice and Mr. Judson were 
appointed as missionaries, and provision was made 
for their support. The English Baptist Mission- 
ary Society was informed of these actions, and 
that the American Board was ready to reimburse 
the English Missionary Society for the funds 
advanced to Mr. Judson. 

From the formation of the Triennial Convention 
in 1814, down to 1845, the work of American Bap- 



*See Appendix "0." 
{See Appendix "D." 



28 Southern Baptist Foreign Missions. 

tists, North and South, in foreign missions was 
conducted by the Foreign Mission Board of this 
Convention. In 1815 and 1816, South Carolina 
was the largest contributor to the work of the 
Board. In 1818 this honor fell to Virginia. 
Georgia led in 1837. The five States leading in 
total contributions from its organization in 1814 
to the organization of the Southern Baptist Con- 
vention in 1845, were New York, Massachusetts, 
Georgia, Virginia, South Carolina. 

Southern Baptists, then, should not fall into the 
error of thinking that their interest ia foreign 
missions began with the organization of the South- 
ern Baptist Convention in 1845. Luther Bice 
traveled extensively in the South, laboring in be- 
half of missions, and was everywhere loved and 
cordially welcomed. He sleeps in the cemetery at 
Edgefield, S. C. The great career of Judson, who 
died in 1849, is practically spanned by the period 
covered by the life of the old Triennial Convention. 
Southern hearts and hands were with him, and 
his devoted co-laborers, in their great work in 
Burmah. It was a Southern man, E. A. Stephens, 
of Georgia, who completed the Burman-English 
Dictionary on which Judson was laboring when 
he died. The remarkable work done in Sierra 
Leone on the West Coast of Africa originated in 
Bichmond, Va., and after it was taken over by the 
Triennial Convention, received the heartiest coop- 
eration from Southern people. The affection of 
Southern Baptists for the work performed by the 



Baptist Foreign Missions Prior to 1845. 29 

old Triennial Convention was eloquently voiced 
in the minutes of the first Convention, in 1845. 
Indeed, the thrilling story of the heroism, the 
sacrifices, and the achievements of these early days 
is the priceless heritage of the whole Baptist fam- 
ily in America. 

Mission Dates to be Eemembered. 

1784. Monthly Concert of Prayer recommended by the 
Nottinghamshire Baptist Association. 

1792. May 30. Carey Preached Famous Sermon on 
Isaiah 54 : 2, 3. 

1792. October 2. ''The Baptist Missionary Society for 

Propagating the Gospel Among the Heathen," 
formed at Kettering. 

1793. June 13, Carey and Thomas sail for India. 

1812. February 19, Judson sailed for India. 

1813. February. "Baptist Society for Propagating the 

Gospel in India and Other Foreign Parts," 
organized in Boston. 

1813. October 28, Institution of "The Baptist Missionary 

Society of Virginia." 

1814. May 18, Meeting of "The Baptist General Conven- 

tion for Foreign Missions" (Triennial Conven- 
tion) in Philadelphia. 
1845. Southern Baptist Convention organized in Augusta, 
Georgia. 



CHAPTER II. 



FOREIGN MISSION BOARD OF THE SOUTHERN 
BAPTIST CONVENTION. 

In 1845 it became apparent to Baptists, both 
North and South, that a separation was inevitable 
on account of divergent views upon the question 
of slavery. The Southern people could no longer 
be induced to support a Board which declared it 
would not appoint a Southern man to be a mission- 
ary if he were a slaveholder, and the Northern 
churches were becoming disrupted by the heated 
discussions which were being held in all their 
churches. So far had this dissatisfaction gone in 
the North that in 1843 there was organized in 
Boston a Free Mission Society, for the ex- 
pressed intention of not cooperating with the 
Southern churches and in opposition to the For- 
eign Mission Board of the Triennial Convention. 
Furthermore, the Boston Board was so far remote 
from the South that it was unable to cultivate 
very satisfactorily the Southern field. A separa- 
tion was necessary, therefore, to save the mission 
cause, both North and South. In 1845, the Vir- 
ginia Foreign Mission Society issued an address 
suggesting that a convention be held in Augusta, 
Ga., in May of that year "to confer on the best 

(30) 



Foreign Mission Board of the 8. B. C. 31 

means of promoting the foreign mission cause and 
other interests of the Baptist denomination in the 
South." 

In response to this call of the Virginia Foreign 
Mission Society, 328 delegates from eight South- 
ern States and the District of Columbia met in 
Augusta, Ga., May 8, 1845, and organized the South- 
ern Baptist Convention. This Convention issued 
an address in which in the following language it 
showed clearly that the Constitution was essen- 
tially the same as that of the old Triennial Con- 
vention : 

"The Constitution we adopt is precisely that of 
the original union ; that in connection with which, 
throughout his missionary life, Adoniram Judson 
has lived, and under which Ann Judson and 
Boardman have died. We recede from it no 
single step. . . . We use the very terms as we 
uphold the true spirit and great object of the late 
'General Convention of the Baptist Denomination 
of the United States.' " 

It should be borne in mind that this separation 
was not over any point of doctrine, but was over 
the practical promotion of the activities of the 
denomination. The Southern Baptist Convention 
was not formed in a factional spirit. We must 
accept as genuine the purpose of this Convention 
as declared in the following resolution : 

"Resolved, That for peace and harmony, and in 
order to accomplish the greatest amount of good, 
and for the maintenance of those Scriptural prin- 



32 Southern Baptist Foreign Missions. 

ciples on which the General Missionary Conven- 
tion of the Baptist Denomination of the United 
States was originally formed, it is proper that this 
Convention at once proceed to organize a Society 
for the propagation of the gospel." 

The Augusta Convention provided for two 
Boards, one for foreign and one for home missions, 
which should serve as large Committees to trans- 
act the business of the Convention between the 
meetings of that body. It would be a pleasing 
task to trace here the inspiring work the Home 
Mission Board has carried forward during these 
fifty-odd years, but the limits of this sketch do not 
permit us. We must give our attention to a brief 
discussion of the work done by the Foreign Mis- 
sion Board. 

Immediately after the Convention in Augusta, 
the Foreign Mission Board, composed of twenty- 
one members, living in Richmond, Va., and a Vice- 
President in every Southern State, organized for 
business. The history of this Board falls natur- 
ally into three periods. The period of beginnings, 
1845-1860; the period of retardment, 1861-1879; 
the period of enlargement, 1880 to the present 
time. 

Period of Beginnings, 1845-1860. 

After searching diligently for some months, the 
Board selected Bev. James B. Taylor, D.D., of 
Virginia, to be the Corresponding Secretary. Dr. 
Taylor accepted and conducted the administrative 



Foreign Mission Board of the 8. B. C. 33 

work of the Board with signal ability and states- 
manship until 1871. 

The selection of fields and the securing of mis- 
sionaries to occupy them was a difficult task. The 
first field to which missionaries were appointed 
was China. In 1845, J. L. Shuck, I. J. Roberts, 
Samuel C. Clopton, and George Percy were ap- 
pointed to labor in China. Shuck w r as the first 
Baptist missionary ever to be located in China. 
He had been sent out in 1836 under the Foreign 
Mission Board of the Triennial Convention. 
When the Southern Baptist Convention was 
formed, he, being a Virginian, naturally sought 
employment under the new Board, and received 
from it the first commission it ever gave. 

From the time when Lott Carey and Colin 
Teague (both colored) went out from Richmond, 
Va., to Liberia, on the West Coast of Africa, in 1821, 
under the appointment of the Triennial Convention, 
the effort to reach the millions of Africa had been 
cordially supported by Southern Baptists. It 
was to be expected, therefore, that when our own 
Convention was formed, our Board would imme- 
diately plan to send missionaries to the African 
continent. Accordingly, in the fall of 1846, John 
Day and A. L. Jones were appointed to serve in 
Liberia. These two fields were the only ones 
occupied by the Board during this first period. In 
1859, the Board resolved to enter Japan, but the 
approach of the Civil War delayed this for many 
years. 

3 



34 Southern Baptist Foreign Missions. 

It was necessaiy also to determine upon the 
policies which should control the operations of 
the Board in foreign lands. With statesmanlike 
foresight and skill, the policies were inaugurated 
which have since required but slight modification. 
The Board's first Beport outlined procedure along 
evangelistic, educational, and medical lines. 

Mr. Francis C. Johnson, of South Carolina, on 
account of his exceptional ability, was sent to 
China in 1846 to undertake the special work of 
instructing native preachers. Today the school 
work has been enlarged, until all kinds of schools, 
from the Kindergarten to the College and Theo- 
logical Seminary are employed. These schools 
gain the sympathy of the people to a very remark- 
able degree, and thus become very effective evan- 
gelistic agencies. 

The problem of enlisting the masses of our 
people in behalf of the mission cause was graphic- 
ally stated by the first Corresponding Secretary 
of the Board. "The population of the South is 
comparatively sparse. Our churches are not of 
easy access, their members being scattered often 
over many miles of territory. Our forces are not 
well trained, nor are their capabilities brought 
into suitable exercise. . . . Our country is 
not filled up with towns and villages. They are 
principally agriculturalists, and must be visited 
upon their farms, or called together at their coun- 
try places of worship." 

The Board addressed itself diligently to the 



Foreign Mission Board of the S. B. C. 35 

solution of this problem. Effort was made, with 
varying success, to employ agents who would rep- 
resent the cause of missions in their several States. 
The Southern Baptist Mission Journal was called 
into existence to help supply information. The 
Secretary, who at first gave only a portion of his 
time to the Board, soon turned his entire attention 
to the development of the field, both at home and 
abroad. He went among the churches trying to 
rally them to the support of the cause. In 1854, 
Dr. A. M. Poindexter, of Virginia, was elected 
Assistant Secretary and wrought most efficiently. 
One of the greatest impulses given to the foreign 
mission cause was by J. L. Shuck. He, in com- 
pany with Yong Seen Sang, a native Chinese con- 
vert, was visiting in this country at the time of the 
organization of the Convention. Mr. Shuck and 
Mr. Yong were asked by the Board to visit the 
churches. Wherever they went, they created 
deep interest in missions and gave an impetus to 
the cause which was felt for many years. That 
these agencies quickened the missionary zeal of 
Southern Baptists is demonstrated by the fact 
that the contributions for foreign missions in- 
creased from $11,689.05 in 1845, to $41,195.07 in 
1860. 

In the latter part of the '50's, the outlook was 
bright for a splendid advance in foreign mission 
endeavor. The work in China and Africa had 
been firmly established. Already the Board had 
undertaken to open the work in Japan and Brazil, 



36 Southern Baptist Foreign Missions. 

and was considering other fields. But in 1860 
the War Cloud arose, and the impending storm 
began to chill the activities of the people. 

Period op Betardment, 1861-1879. 

The Civil War, which destroyed so much wealth 
and decimated the population of the South, crip- 
pled most seriously the activities of the Foreign 
Mission Board. The hopeful progress just preced- 
ing the War received a violent check when this 
fearful strife began. 

The income of the Board fell until in 1863 it 
amounted to only $8,634.43. Even if the income 
had been larger, it would not have been possible to 
send the money to the missionaries at the front 
because of the blockade that was maintained so 
rigidly against the South. So little could be done 
that Dr. Taylor, the Secretary of the Board, en- 
gaged himself to the Virginia Sunday School and 
Publishing Board to give a portion of his time as 
a colporteur among the hospitals of Bichmond, 
and Dr. A. M. Poindexter, the Assistant Secretary, 
retired to his farm. 

Correspondence with the missionaries was very 
limited, and at times entirely cut off. In this 
crisis, the good offices of the brethren in Maryland 
and Kentucky were most generously tendered to 
the Board. These two States suffered less than 
the others from the ravages of the War, and being 
on the border, could communicate more easily 



Foreign Mission Board of the S. B. G. 37 

with the outside world. These brethren raised 
considerable sums of money and forwarded them 
to the missionaries. Had it not been for this 
generous action by the Maryland and Kentucky 
Baptists, our missionaries would have suffered 
far more than they did. 

Of the actions of the missionaries, themselves, 
the Keport of 1866 can best speak. "The brethren 
connected with the different missions deserve espe- 
cially the grateful thanks of the Board for their 
considerate regard to our condition by voluntarily 
reducing their stipulated allowance and otherwise, 
by a partial arrangement for their own support. 
As the Board had authorized them in the event of 
straitened circumstances, to secure loans, it is 
easy to see how an embarrassing debt might have 
been created from which it would have been diffi- 
cult to release ourselves. But these brethren 
preferred to suffer privation and hardship, being 
willing to share with the sorrowing ones at home 
who were drinking in various forms the bitter cup 
of affliction." 

The War left the South stunned and impover- 
ished. Thousands of those who had contributed 
to missions before the War now lay dead on the 
battlefields. Many plantations, previously flour- 
ishing, were now deserted and profitless. Not- 
withstanding these conditions, our Baptist hosts 
rallied with wonderful devotion to the support of 
foreign missions and instructed the Board to as 
quickly as possible resume all work undertaken 



38 Southern Baptist Foreign Missions. 

previous to the outbreak of the War. The debt 
of f 10,000 which was on the Board at the close of 
the War w r as soon wiped out, and by 1879 the in- 
come was rapidly approaching the proportions 
reached in 1860. Italy w T as entered in 1870, and 
the work attempted in Brazil just before the War, 
was resumed in 1879. In 1875, the Foreign Mis- 
sion Journal, which had been suspended during 
the War, was revived, and in the same year the 
Board undertook to rehabilitate the long-neglected 
work in Africa. 

On the 11th day of December, 1871, Dr. J. B. 
Taylor, Corresponding Secretary since the organ- 
ization, resigned, and eleven days afterward passed 
to his heavenly reward. Of his distinguished 
services, the Board makes the following record : 

"Kev. J. B. Taylor, D.D., has been the only 
acting Corresponding Secretary of this Board. 
During the whole period of its existence, extend- 
ing through twenty-six years, he has performed 
the duties of his office with a diligence, fidelity, 
and disinterestedness never excelled, and with a 
judgment and prudence and efficiency rarely 
equalled. He has been in truth the life and motive 
power of the Board." 

The year 1879 is taken as the close of this 
period, because that date marked a significant 
turning point in the history of the Southern Bap- 
tist Convention. The fact of slavery was the 
greatest single cause for the formation of the 
Southern Baptist Convention. When, therefore, 



Foreign Mission Board of the 8. B. C. 39 

the War was over and Keconstruction days had 
passed, it was natural that the question should 
rise whether American Baptists should not reunite 
their activities. The Convention held in Atlanta, 
1879, finally decided that the separate organiza- 
tion should be continued. Many considerations 
influenced this decision. 

"But the sturdiest prop of an institution that 
was almost ready to fall was the Board of Foreign 
Missions. They had no rivals in prosecuting the 
foreign mission work of Southern Baptists. On 
either side of the Mississippi, all States and Terri- 
tories were opened to them; their agents were 
kindly welcomed everywhere. By consequence it 
was in their power to exhibit a degree of prosper- 
ity that was unequaled for that time and to pre- 
sent reports that were always gratifying and often 
surprising. Friends of the Convention could urge 
with entire propriety that there was no serious call 
to surrender as long as this creditable work re- 
mained intact." — Dr. William H. Whitsitt, in 
Jubilee Address, Washington, 1895. 

Period of Enlargement, 1880 to the Present. 

With the question of the separate existence of 
the Convention settled and the South in some 
measure recovered from the retarding circum- 
stances incident to the Civil War, the Foreign 
Mission Board found itself in 1880 upon the 
threshold of a new era in which it might hope and 
plan for extensive enlargement. 



40 Southern Baptist Foreign Missions. 

It was possible now for the Board to look to 
other fields and to equip more adequately the sta- 
tions already established. The first year of this 
period was signalized by the establishment of a 
Mission in Mexico. Japan was entered in 1889, 
and a mission was established in Argentina in 
1903, thus bringing the number of countries in 
which the Board labors up to seven. 

Great advancement has been made, but we 
should not imagine that it was effected without 
arduous toil and in the face of serious difficulties. 
Dr. H. A. Tupper, who became Secretary on Feb- 
ruary 20, 1872, did heroic service in spite of poor 
equipment on the foreign fields and difficult 
though ever-improving conditions in this country. 
For more than twenty-one years this faithful serv- 
ant labored for the Board, and was permitted to 
see its work quadrupled both in workers and con- 
tributions. He resigned his position on June 30, 
1893. 

"Between these dates — February 20, 1872, and 
June 30, 1893 — the voluminous records of the 
Board and of the Southern Baptist Convention 
contained on almost every page some proofs of the 
zealous, assiduous, faithful, incessant labors of 
this very modest, quiet, Christian gentleman In 
every State of our vast domain and in every conti- 
nent of the globe, his autograph letters have car- 
ried wise advice couched in terms of kindly senti- 
ment and most courtly politeness, while his un- 
written record stamped upon the minds and hearts 



Foreign Mission Board of the 8. B. C. 41 

of members of the Board and missionaries under 
our appointment is beyond the power of human 
language to represent. Eternity alone will suffice 
to estimate the power of his faith, his calmness, 
his prudence, his consecration." 

Dr. E. J. Willingham was called to the Secre- 
taryship and began his work September 1, 1893. 
Coming from a successful pastorate in the First 
Baptist Church, Memphis, Tenn., he threw himself 
into the work and conducted a campaign for ad- 
vancement in the face of debt and many discour- 
agements, with the magnificent results that the 
reports of the years eloquently display. 

During the entire existence of the Board there 
have been only three Corresponding Secretaries — 
Drs. J. B. Taylor, H. A. Tupper, and E. J. Willing- 
ham. At different times the Board had also an 
Assistant Secretary. Eev. A. M. Poindexter, D.D., 
served with Dr. Taylor; Eev. T. P. Bell, D.D., 
with Dr. Tupper; Eev. E. Y. Mullins, D.D., Eev. 
A. J. Barton, D. D., Eev. E. E. Bomar, D.D., with 
Dr. Willingham. It is hardly possible to over- 
estimate the value of the services of this group of 
Assistant Secretaries. They gave themselves un- 
stintedly to the cause, and their labors contributed 
in a large way to the splendid success attained 
by the Board. 

No history of the Foreign Mission Board would 
be complete without special recognition of the 
untiring zeal and unfailing support our women 
have given to this cause. When Yong Seen Sang 



42 Southern Baptist Foreign Missions. 

was appointed missionary in the first year of the 
Convention, the Woman's Society of the First 
Baptist Church, Richmond, Va. ? undertook his 
support and kept it up for more than thirty-five 
years. The first plan was that the women should 
undertake the support of the women missionaries. 
There was a special report upon the women's work 
in the Convention in 1872, which urged that the 
organization of female societies be encouraged in 
all the churches. A similar report in 1876 conveys 
the information that, "In many of our churches, 
female missionary societies have been organized for 
the support of female missionaries. Perhaps the 
largest group of these societies is in South Caro- 
lina, where they already number as many as sixty- 
eight, and have greatly increased the missionary 
contribution in that liberal State. Others of a sim- 
ilar sort exist in Maryland, Virginia, Georgia, Ala- 
bama, and Kentucky, and no doubt in some addi- 
tional States, but we are unable to report their 
number. It is desirable that they be established 
in all. Female societies, cooperating in the gen- 
eral work of the Board, have from the beginning 
largely contributed to its revenues and successes, 
especially in the older States, but we doubt not 
that this specific object will awaken an interest in 
behalf of missions such as they have never cher- 
ished heretofore." 

In 1888 the Woman's Missionary Union, auxil- 
iary to the Southern Baptist Convention, was 
organized in the form under which it operates to- 



Foreign Mission Board of the S. B. C. 43 

day, with central Committees in all the States. 
Its work is auxiliary to all of the Boards of the 
Convention. This new organization has greatly 
increased the efficiency of the women's societies. 

In addition to raising large sums of money for 
both home and foreign missions, the Woman's 
Missionary Union maintains &n extensive mission 
literature department at its headquarters in Bal- 
timore, Md. ; a home for missionaries' children in 
Greenville, S. C, and a Training School for women 
in Louisville, Ky. Miss Annie W. Armstrong was 
the capable Secretary for the first eighteen years 
of the Union's history. Her self-sacrificing devo- 
tion and intelligent direction contributed one of 
the most signal services ever rendered the cause 
of missions in the South. She was succeeded by 
Miss Edith Campbell Crane, who serves efficiently 
in this same capacity today. 

We have attempted in the preceding pages to 
pass in review the glorious history of the South- 
ern Baptist Convention from the time of its forma- 
tion down to the present day. It has not been 
possible to portray the difficulties, the heartaches, 
the anxieties which the Board and its mission- 
aries have felt during these trying years. With 
the deepest gratitude we give praise to God for 
his wonderful blessing and for his faithful guid- 
ance through all the problems down to this good 
hour. He has enlarged our work until it wins 
our cordial admiration and leads us to expect far 
larger achievements in the years to come. 



44 Southern Baptist Foreign Missions. 

It may be interesting to say something about the 
present form, activities and methods of the Board. 
The Board is composed of twenty-one members 
who reside in Bichniond, and a Vice-President in 
every State. It is appointed annually by the 
Southern Baptist Convention, to which it makes 
report. It is served at the present time by R. J. 
Willingham, Corresponding Secretary; William H. 
Smith, Editorial Secretary; S. J. Porter, Field 
Secretary; T. B. Bay, Educational Secretary; 
B. B. Gwathmey, Treasurer. The Secretaries and 
the Treasurer are the only members who receive 
any salary. 

The work of the Board is divided into four de- 
partments, each in charge of a Secretary. Dr. 
B. J. Willingham has charge of the General Ad- 
ministrative Department, and exercises a general 
supervision over the entire work of the Board. 
Dr. William H. Smith has charge of the Editorial 
Department, and edits the Foreign Mission Jour- 
nal and other pamphlet literature. Dr. S. J. 
Porter has charge of the Field Department, and 
through the Vice-Presidents of the Board in the 
hundreds of Associations in the bounds of the 
Convention and by visiting the churches and con- 
ventions, keeps in touch with the home field. Dr. 
T. B. Bay has charge of the Educational Depart- 
ment, and through organizing Mission Study 
Classes in the churches, schools, and colleges, cir- 
culating missionary literature, visiting Conven- 
tions, Summer Assemblies, and churches, endeav- 



Foreign Mission Board of the 8. B. C. 45 

ors to faster the study of missions. Of course, 
each Secretary assists in all departments of the 
Board's work as far as possible. 

The administrative work of the Board is done in 
the regular Board meetings held on the second 
Tuesday in every month, with an occasional called 
meeting. Every matter of importance is referred 
to a committee and receives careful consideration 
before it is presented to the Board. There are 
committees on China, Africa, Japan, Italy, Mex- 
ico, Brazil, Argentina, Finances, Appointments, 
Publications, Ways and Means, Woman's Work, 
and Young People's Work. 

On every field there is a regularly organized 
Mission. A Mission is made up of the missionaries 
who are laboring in any particular field. For 
instance, there are four Missions in China, one 
consisting of the workers in South China, called 
the South China Mission; another, the workers 
in Central China ; another, the workers in North 
China; a fourth, the missionaries in Interior 
China. The Missions consider the work of their 
respective fields, and from time to time make rec- 
ommendations to the Board. Of course, the 
Board is in constant communication with the 
individual missionary. Once a year the Mission 
meets and adopts an estimate of expenses for the 
coming twelve months, including salaries of the 
missionaries and of the native helpers and build- 
ings and other equipment required. This becomes 
the basis of appropriations by the Board, the 



46 Southern Baptist Foreign Missions. 

funds available and the needs of all the fields being 
taken into consideration. 

The work of the Foreign Mission Board upon 
the foreign fields is divided into four departments 
— the evangelistic, educational, medical, and lit- 
erary. It should be remembered, however, that 
these divisions are for the sake of definition. 
They overlap in many ways, and the object of all 
of them is to bring the gospel of Christ in saving 
power to the knowledge and acceptance of the 
people. Everything is made to contribute to this 
one great end. 

The evangelistic work consists of those labors 
of the missionaries which have to do directly with 
the proclamation of the gospel and with the direct- 
ing of the religious work of the Mission. All of 
our missionaries, whatever may be their technical 
work, preach the gospel and endeavor to win men 
to Christ through personal work. All share in the 
organization of churches, the conducting of Sun- 
day schools, and preaching tours. 

The educational work consists of all forms of 
school work, from the Kindergarten in which the 
most elemental w T ork is done, up through the 
Academy, the College, the Theological Seminary. 
These schools are effective means of reaching the 
people, and render them more receptive to the 
gospel message. The importance of the impres- 
sion made upon the child's mind in these schools 
cannot be estimated, and the necessity of having 



Foreign Mission Board of the 8. B. C. 47 

a trained native ministry is of transcendent 
moment. 

Industrial school work has been recently added 
in one or two fields. It aims to make the students 
self-supporting, giving them an education and a 
trade at the same time. This makes those who 
are unsuited for teachers enlightened wage-earning 
citizens and more efficient church members. 

The medical missionary is necessary both for 
protecting the lives of the missionaries and for 
the good he can accomplish in winning the sym- 
pathy of native people. Our physicians in China, 
Mexico, and Africa are exercising a far-reaching 
influence. As they treat their thousands of 
patients, they turn many to Christ. 

Christian literature is an exceedingly important 
factor in every stage of mission endeavor. Large 
quantities of tracts, Bibles, periodicals, books, 
must be provided by the missionaries to enlighten 
the people about the gospel and to counteract the 
evil effects of some other literature which comes 
from our shores. In some countries we have 
established printing plants and publishing houses 
whose success has demonstrated their usefulness. 

The income of the Board is from two sources. 
The main source of income is from the free-will 
offerings of our people all over the bounds of the 
Southern Baptist Convention. This, in the last 
few years, has greatly increased but is still alto- 
gether inadequate to meet the distressing and im- 
perative needs. 



48 Southern Baptist Foreign Missions. 

The other source of income is from legacies 
which are received from time to time. Not a large 
sum has been received in this way, but it is increas- 
ing every year. Occasionally, gifts are made to 
the Board on condition that an annuity be paid 
the donors during their lifetime. 

All contributions are received by the Treasurer, 
deposited by him in bank and acknowledged 
promptly by mail and in the Foreign Mission 
Journal. Once a month, he makes a full report to 
the Board of all funds received and paid out. The 
Treasurer pays out all money on the order of the 
Board, for which he receives vouchers which are 
examined by the Auditor of the Board and duly 
reported under his certificate. The annual report 
of the Treasurer, after being audited by the Board, 
is printed in the Minutes of the Convention. 

The appointment of new missionaries is a serious 
responsibility. When anyone wishes to be ap- 
pointed as a missionary of the Foreign Mission 
Board, he makes application to the Corresponding 
Secretary, who then sends him a blank form to 
ascertain the leading facts about his life, his spir- 
itual experience, educational attainments, expe- 
rience in religious work, field preferred, and other 
important points. The Secretary also corresponds 
with the friends and acquaintances of the appli- 
cant and endeavors by diligent inquiry to discover 
the fitness of the applicant for appointment to the 
work of a foreign missionary. The applicant is 
given a thorough medical examination by a com- 



Foreign Mission Board of the S. B. G. 49 

petent physician, and the statement of this physi- 
cian is passed upon by the Board's consulting 
physician in Kichmond. 

After all the information has been gathered and 
the Board is satisfied that the applicant is prob- 
ably suitable, he is requested to come before the 
Board for examination. At this examination he 
is questioned as to his conversion, his acceptance 
of Baptist beliefs, and his call to the mission work. 
If the applicant successfully passes these examina- 
tions, he is appointed and his field is assigned. 

When the young missionary is ready to start 
to his field, a railroad ticket is bought direct to the 
Atlantic or Pacific seaboard, his steamer ticket 
having been provided beforehand. 

In general, it is expected that missionaries 
spend seven years on the field before returning 
home for the first furlough, and that their second 
term of service cover nine years, but owing to 
climatic conditions, sickness, etc., this varies very 
much with different workers. 

The Board has sent out 549 missionaries, of 
which 246 now are in the service. In addition to 
these, there have been a larger number of native 
workers. A few of the missionaries have died 
of old age and a smaller number by violence, 
but the majority of those who have died have 
succumbed to the effects of hostile climates and 
overstrain in their work. Whatever have been 
the hardships, these missionaries have been and 
are today as happy and hopeful a band as can 

4 



50 Southern Baptist Foreign Missions. 

be found anywhere. They for the joy that is 
set before them endure their crosses. They have 
said with the Apostle, "But none of these things 
move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, 
so that I might finish my course with joy and the 
ministry which I have received of the Lord Jesus 
to testify of the grace of God." Let us thank God 
for such as these. May a spirit of consecration 
like theirs so abound that our churches will give 
increasingly to these missionaries and the Board 
which is appointed to sustain them, sympathy and 
support. 

The Foreign Mission Board of the Southern 
Baptist Convention. 

1. Organized May, 1845. 

2. Fields entered. 

China, 1845. 
Africa, 1846. 
Italy, 1870. 
Brazil, 1879. 
Mexico, 1880. 
Japan, 1889. 
Argentina, 1903. 

3. Corresponding Secretaries. 

Rev. J. B. Taylor, D.D., 1845-1871. 

Rev. H. A. Tnpper, D.D., 1872-1893. 

Rev. R. J. Willingham, D.D., 1893 to the present. 

4. Present Secretarial Force. 

Rev. R. J. Willingham, D.D., Corresponding Sec'y. 
Rev. William H. Smith, D.D., Editorial Secretary. 
Rev. S. J. Porter, D.D., Field Secretary. 
Rev. T. B. Ray, D.D., Educational Secretary. 

5. Woman's Missionary Union organized, 1888. 



CHAPTER III. 



THE SOUTH CHINA MISSION 

The first Baptist missionary to China was the 
Eev. J. L. Shuck, of Virginia, sent out by the Tri- 
ennial Convention in 1836. He first located at 
Macao, and in 1842 he moved east forty miles to 
Hong Kong. In 1844 he and Kev. I. J. Eoberts 
moved to Canton. When our Convention was 
organized, in 1845, Mr. Shuck was engaged by our 
Board to continue the work in Canton. His visit 
to America, accompanied by Yong Seen Sang, our 
first Chinese preacher, created much interest in 
mission work in China. After Mr. Shuck's return 
to China, he located in Shanghai. Mr. Eoberts 
became a member of our mission. He had pre- 
viously been conducting an independent mission, 
and worked mainly in Canton. He was for some 
tim£, a kind of adviser to the leader of the Tai 
Ping rebellion. He organized a small church, 
which was disbanded after he left Canton. Mr. 
Eoberts died at Upper Alton, 111., in 1866, of lep- 
rosy which he contracted by having some lepers 
live in one of the lower rooms of his house. 

There were quite a number of missionaries to 
join the mission up to the time of Dr. E. H. 
Graves' arrival, in 1856. Among them, Mr. Gail- 

(51) 



52 Southern Baptist Foreign Missions. 




The South China Mission. 53 

lard was the most useful and most popular with 
the Chinese. The early members remembered him 
most affectionately. He was killed in 1862 by 
his house being blown down on him in the great 
typhoon of July of that year, when some ten thou- 
sand Chinese were killed.. Up to this time, two 
churches had been organized — the First Church, in 
the old city, of which Dr. Graves is co-pastor, and 
the Shiu Hing Church, eighty miles west of Can- 
ton. For three years before the destructive ty- 
phoon, Dr. Graves had done considerable country 
work, and had opened a station at Wuchow in the 
Kwongsi Province. He now had to live in Can- 
ton and give most of his time to work in this 
great city. 

There were many dangers and hardships passed 
through during the Opium War, the Tai Ping 
rebellion, and our Civil War in America. Many 
of these have never been made known to the world. 
These were the times when the foundations of our 
work were being well laid. There was steady 
growth. When Dr. Graves took his first furlough 
after fourteen years of hard, faithful labor, there 
were 120 members. He is still at the helm, 
and has led to our present large and successful 
work. This is due largely to his strong faith, per- 
severance along Scriptural lines of work, to his 
conservatism and his untiring energy. He never 
stops work. It is the plodder that succeeds in 
China. 



54 Southern Baptist Foreign Missions. 
Our Plans of Mission Work. 

We have stood for the preaching of the gospel 
as God's plan for the salvation of the people. 
This we have done in the chapels, on the streets, in 
the market towns, in the villages, and everywhere 
we could get hearers. It is true that much of this 
work has not yielded much apparent results, but 
the sowing of the seed has been far and wide, and 
we are gathering in the harvest in many ways and 
places. 

Much itinerating has been done up and down 
the numerous waterways of this mission field. 
We have sought to make much use of our members 
and native preachers in this work. We would 
hire a boat and take trips of from a few days to a 
month. This boat would serve as our home. 
When we came to towns and villages, we would 
stop and preach, and talk to the people as we 
walked and sold tracts or Scriptures. Several of 
us would preach short sermons at the same place. 
We would learn much from each other. 

The distribution of Scriptures and Christian 
literature is a very important part of our work. 
When itinerating we carry a good supply. While 
some are preaching, others are selling tracts to 
those who are too far away to hear or that do not 
want to listen. It is a good plan for the preacher 
to begin by telling in brief the contents of a tract 
or a gospel. Those who may be interested will 
buy a book, and the truths will be fastened in the 



The South China Mission. 55 

mind when the preacher has passed on. There has 
been a gracious harvest from the distribution of 
Christian literature. It has not always been the 
policy to sell the Scriptures and tracts. I had not 
heard of any being sold up to 1871. On our first 
country trip up the West Kiver, in 1871, the sell- 
ing came about in this way. Mr. and Mrs. Piercey, 
of the Wesleyan Mission, and myself and wife 
came to Wingon Market. There was a big crowd 
of people present. We went out to distribute 
our literature. The Chinese are anxious to get 
anything when it is free. They crowded upon 
Mr. Piercey and took his books from him, tearing 
many of them in the scuffle. I managed to hold on 
to mine. I then urged that we sell the tracts for 
a nominal price. He did not like the idea, but I 
persisted, and he said, "Well, when we come to 
another market town, if it is market day, we will 
try selling. A few days later, we came to Luk Po, 
a large market twenty miles west of Shiu Hing. 
There was a big crowd present. We filled our 
canvas bags, and having agreed upon the price for 
each tract and gospel, we mounted an ater, a 
raised platform of stone about two and one-half 
feet high. When we told the people that our 
literature was for sale, it had a very quieting 
effect on them. This gave us a chance to tell what 
the tracts were and why we sold them. Soon 
some one bought one. Then "they went like hot 
cakes." We sold all the gospels and tracts that 
we had with us. 



56 Southern Baptist Foreign Missions. 

This was the beginning, so far as I know, of the 
selling of tracts to the natives in China. From 
that day to this, we have been selling. Only in 
exceptional cases does anyone give them away now. 
Some of the older missionaries used to remon- 
strate with me for selling tracts, but all have 
adopted this policy. 

One good brother, probably to show me how to 
do the work, sent two coolie loads, four big bas- 
kets, of literature with some brethren to give the 
books to the students who were attending the tri- 
ennial examinations in the neighborhood of our 
chapel. They were instructed to give to those 
who wore long gowns. The short-coated people 
did not like this. These gathered a crowd and 
charged upon them and took their books away 
from them. People are more likely to read and 
appreciate that which costs them something. And 
those who can't read are not going to waste their 
cash for tracts. We have many evidences of the 
value of this work in interesting and in saving 
many people. There is great need for men and 
women with gifts for writing tracts and books for 
use in this work. It would be hard to over-esti- 
mate the importance of producing and distribut- 
ing Christian literature in China. The Chinese 
have great reverence for the printed page. They 
are a reading people. Newspapers and periodicals 
are increasing very rapidly here. I cannot think 
of a wider field of usefulness than this offers to 
those who love and are gifted in this work. 



The South China Mission. 57 

By our preaching and the distribution of 
Christian literature up and down this field, we 
have sown the good seed and some have been won 
to Christ. These we have sought to cultivate and 
develop. Thus following the lead of God's provi- 
dence, we have opened up nearly all of our twenty- 
eight churches and about fifty other stations where 
we have some members and regular preaching. 
Connected with these we have about 4,000 mem- 
bers. One preacher often has charge of more than 
one station. These are connected with some cen- 
tral church. 

The Chinese live in cities, towns and villages. 
This is favorable to the evangelizing of these 
places, and as we gain more members in these 
places, it will lend itself to the better development 
of these Christians. 

Where there are enough members in a locality, 
we hold occasionally Bible classes for a week. 
Those interested and the inquirers attend. This 
is our best way to teach them the truths of the 
Bible and instruct the Christians as to their du- 
ties as church members to each other and to the 
unsaved. We usually have one or more of the 
pastors or preachers to help in teaching. And 
much attention is given to teaching them to sing. 
The young learn to sing very well. The old try, 
and make a noise, which is better than to be mum. 
This class work gives us opportunities to study 
our people and see who are leaders and who will 
do to become preachers and should go to the Sem- 



58 Southern Baptist Foreign Missions. 

inary to prepare themselves for more efficient 
work. 

As our numbers increase, we must give more 
attention to education. A large mass of unedu- 
cated and untrained members is, to a considerable 
extent, a dead weight. Therefore, it is necessary 
for the missionaries to give much of their time to 
this work, along many lines. The Theological 
Seminary is of prime importance. The Graves 
Theological School at Canton is well started with 
three foreign teachers — Drs. Graves, Greene, and 
Brother Anderson — and one native professor, Ue 
Sui Wan, giving all their time to teaching. The 
Seminary is patterned after the Seminary in Louis- 
ville. Special attention is given to teaching the 
Old and New Testaments. The students are ex- 
pected to do much preaching, selling of tracts and 
teaching in the Sunday schools. On the first day 
of the month, "Missionary Day," a special address 
is given by some one not connected with the school 
on subjects that will instruct in general missions 
in the world and at the same time stimulate to 
more practical work. Eeports are made by the 
students of their work for the month. From this 
institution we are sending out some strong men 
for the pastorate and to do evangelistic work. 
We need more teachers, another building to cost 
about six thousand dollars (gold), and to accom- 
modate sixty more students. The students are 
coming as fast as we can house them and teach 
them. We enrolled sixty-one students this year. 



The South China Mission. 59 

The Academy at Canton, schools at Wuchow 
and Yingtak, are preparing young men for all 
departments of our work and different avocations 
in life. The Academy at Canton is well housed, 
has a good staff of teachers and over one hundred 
students. This school is doing splendid work. 
It is not a mission school, but is run by the Bap- 
tist Chinese. It is adjoining our Mission Com- 
pound, and is carried on in closest sympathy and 
the heartiest cooperation with our missionaries. 
The same thing is true with the schools at Wuchow 
and Yingtak. From these schools, many of our 
brightest and most promising preachers, doctors, 
merchants, and men in all departments of life 
come. 

The Girls' and Woman's Boarding Schools at 
Canton, Wuchow, Yingtak and Shiu Hing are 
doing a very fine work and one that is necessary 
for the permanency, efficiency, and growth of our 
work. Almost any number of our women could 
get government and other schools to teach if they 
were prepared. The boarding schools are prepar- 
ing these girls for teachers, to be wives of preach 
ers, to be Christian mothers, to be Bible women. 
The schools for women are teaching the married 
women to read. Many of these women are the 
wives of our preachers and leading members. It 
is of first importance that our preachers have 
wives that can help them in their work instead of 
being a hindrance. It is rather pathetic as well 
as amusing to see these mothers and grandmothers 



60 Southern Baptist Foreign Missions. 

learning to read, with their little ones on their 
backs or at their sides. And these Woman's 
Schools are for the training of Bible women, too. 
Our work needs many more Bible women. These 
schools are training hundreds of girls and women 
for the openings to be found in the aw r akened 
China. It is difficult to realize the hardness, the 
magnitude, and importance of this work. These 
schools are to be valued and fostered for the 
growth and bringing in of the Kingdom of Christ. 

There are day schools for boys and girls. These 
are to be increased as our work progresses. These 
young ones, and there are many of them, must 
receive their primary education at home. This 
is the great opening for many more teachers, men 
and women. Every church and station should 
have its Christian school. We cannot afford to 
have our children go to heathen schools. The 
places where Christian schools should be started 
are almost without number. This presents a 
splendid field for a general superintendent of such 
schools. 

The importance of medical work has been so 
often told that one hardly knows how to tell it in a 
way that will not be commonplace. There is the 
widest field in the world for this Christ-like work 
of healing the sick. I know of no kind of mission 
work that so readily wins the approval of all 
classes of people. It is a means of relieving untold 
suffering, saving many lives, and bringing many 
into the kingdom. By the healing art, much prej- 



Tlie South China Mission. 61 

udice to the gospel and the missionary has been 
broken down and many individual hearts have 
been opened to the truth and many homes opened 
to Christ's messenger and many communities are 
ready to hear favorably the message of salvation. 

Something Abou^t Our Field. 

This comprises nearly all of the Kwongtung 
Province of twenty millions, and all of Kwongsi 
Province of nine millions. The majority of these 
peoples can be reached by steamers and passage 
boats towed by steam launches, plying up and down 
the various rivers, canals, and waterways of these 
provinces. Eailroads are being constructed. 
Three short lines are in operation. One of these 
is being pushed through the province from Canton 
north to Hankow and Peking. 

Our three main stations are Canton, Wuchow 
and Yingtak. Canton, itself, is a big field. A 
city of from one and one-half to two millions of 
people. There are probably not more than two 
thousand resident Christians of all denominations. 
Of these about five hundred are Baptists. And 
from Canton, as a center, there are many large 
cities and numerous large towns and villages to be 
evangelized. Almost half of the province is to 
be reached from Canton as a center. 

The Sz Yap field is worthy of special mention. 
In these four districts, Sz Yap means four cities 
or districts, most of the Chinese in America have 



62 Southern Baptist Foreign Missions. 

their homes, and by their contact with Americans 
they are much in advance of other parts of the 
country as to Western ideas and Christianity. 
There are to be found Christians in most of the 
villages. It is easy to do mission work in these 
places. There are many chapels — Presbyterian, 
Congregational, and Baptist — in this section. Not 
all that have joined the churches in America and 
come back are true Christians, but many are. 
Throughout this Sz Yap field you will find many 
people wiio can speak some English. They have 
built much better houses and live better and are 
more eager to send their children to school than 
others. A good proportion of the boys in our 
Academy are from the Sz Yap. 

For the Canton station, we have fifteen mission- 
aries. We need double this number, and we need 
very much a physician for our new Compound at 
Tung Shan, which is four miles from the foreign 
concession. Here we have the Graves' Theological 
Seminary, Academy, Girls' Boarding School, the 
Woman's Boarding School. The China Baptist 
Publication Society has bought property and will 
build here soon. We have five dwellings, a church 
that will seat 1,000, an orphanage, and home for 
blind girls. The head offices and car yards of the 
Canton and Kowloon Kailroad adjoin us. They 
have seven new brick dwellings finished, and are 
building others and putting in an electric plant. 
Our place is high, healthful, and desirable to live 
and work in for the Master. The destitution and 



The South China Mission. 63 

opportunities for the Canton station are equally 
great. 

Wuehow is an open port or treaty port, and is 
about 200 miles west of Canton, just across the 
border in the Kwongsi Province. Wuehow is 
the commercial distributing center for the prov- 
ince and is by far the most important city for 
our work. We have located there six missionaries, 
a church of 364 members, hospital that will accom- 
modates 60 in-patients, a Boy's Boarding School, a 
Girls' and a Woman's Boarding School, and a new 
church house just finished that will seat 550, with 
Sunday school rooms and other conveniences for 
book-room and for street preaching. 

The language is mainly Cantonese and Man- 
darin in their variations. The topography of the 
country is made up of river valleys, hills and moun- 
tains. It is rugged and picturesque. The people 
are like their country — rough and turbulent. Here 
is a fine opportunity for strong men and women, 
both physically and spiritually, full of faith and 
the Holy Spirit. This is a most interesting and 
promising field. We have five churches and 
twenty stations, with 1,101 members. These 
stations are from 40 to 300 miles west and north 
of Wuehow. A large proportion of our minis- 
terial students are from this field. For some 
brethren w r ith evangelistic gifts and the ability to 
lead the native brethren this presents a fine open- 
ing for winning souls for the Master. Who will 
come and join our splendid force of young mis- 



64 Southern Baptist Foreign Missions. 

sionaries to conquer this Kwongsi Province for 
Christ? 

Yingtak is the center for our Hakka Mission. 
The city is not very large, only about 20,000, but it 
is the distributing center for this field. It is on the 
North Kiver, and about ninety miles from Canton, 
on the railroad — the road that runs from Canton 
to Hankow and Peking. This field contains five 
to six millions of people. This is a rough and 
most beautiful country. The men are well edu- 
cated. They have never bound the feet of their 
girls. They are not so wedded to idolatry as 
the Cantonese are, and they have not the strong 
prejudices against foreigners and Christianity that 
other Chinese have. 

The Hakka field has nine churches and four 
stations, and 1,433 members. This is our most 
compact field, and gives promise of rapid growth 
and development. These stations are from 30 to 
100 miles east and northeast from Yingtak. Here 
is a very inviting field for two or three evangelistic 
leaders from the homeland. 

At Yingtak, we have five missionaries, a church 
of 82 members, a Boarding School for girls and 
women, and a Boarding School for boys. These 
are young and promising, and necessary to our 
work. We are just completing a new church that 
will seat about 450. Here we have a dispensary 
and shall soon have a hospital. We have two 
good dwellings in a beautiful compound, well 
located. 




Mil! 



I 'zLrii 








^m^m : 'm^«;^m>*A 



Mayfield-Tyzzer Hospital, Laichow, China Hospital, Yangchow, China 

John Stout Memorial Hospital, Wuchow, China 
Oxner Hospital, Pingtu, China 

Warren Memorial Hospital, Hwanghien, China 



The South China Mission. 65 

Shiu Hing, where at present only Miss North 
lives, is a very inviting field. This is our oldest 
country station. There is a church with four out- 
stations, and two others should be opened at once. 
There is a school for girls and women here. Some 
of these are boarders. We should have two mission 
families living here. 

Our Association, which is made up of the 
churches of the two provinces, was organized 
twenty-six years ago. This is an important part 
of our work. There is now a Home Board with 
a general secretary and five missionaries. The 
secretary visits the churches and stations, holds 
meetings, helps in Bible classes. He lays special 
emphasis on aggressive work on the part of the 
members to win souls and carry the gospel to those 
who have not heard it. He preaches everywhere 
the importance of self-support. His work is tell- 
ing for the better organization of our forces, the 
spread of the gospel and the permanency of our 
work. 

The five missionaries are located at important 
centers. Three of these are partially supported 
by their churches. The other two are beginning 
new work. It is the policy of the Association to 
increase the number of missionaries just as fast 
as our contributions will allow, and in time to 
take the work that the missionary has been doing 
and move him on to new fields. The burden of 
evangelization must be laid on the shoulders of the 
native Christians. 



66 Southern Baptist Foreign Missions. 

The China Baptist Publication Society is the 
work of the Baptists of China ; but being located 
in Canton, should have a place in the story of the 
South China Mission. It was organized about 
eleven years ago. The growth has been steady and 
rapid from the beginning. We believe that we 
have only made a beginning. There seems to be 
room for almost unlimited expansion. The powder 
and far-reaching influence of such a work is hard 
to over-estimate. 

It started with nothing but faith and opportu- 
nity. Now it has assets to the amount of $65,- 
846.35, and liabilities to the amount of $22,652.15. 
Last year over 250,000 copies of books and tracts 
were issued, at a cost of about $7,000. More than 
ten million pages of Christian literature were sent 
out to the millions of Chinese. A very large part 
of the work of the Society is to print and distrib- 
ute the Word of God. We bespeak your prayers 
and help for the China Baptist Publication So- 
ciety. The Sunday School Board, at Nashville, 
Tenn., has just made us a generous grant of $5,000 
for our Bible work. 

There seems to be an idea in the minds of some 
people that this is a very unhealthy part of China. 
We think this is not well founded. A careful com- 
parison of our three mission centers — Central, 
North, and South China Missions — shows that the 
term of service is longer, health is better, and there 
are fewer nervous breakdowns here than in the 
other two missions. But let us lay aside all prej- 



The South China Mission. 67 

udice and preconceived notions, and remember that 
God made this part of China as well as other parts, 
and that he has placed a very large number of 
people here. These are intelligent, thrifty, and 
shrewd. The Cantonese are the people that go 
abroad to America, Europe, Australia, the Straits 
settlements, and to India. This emigration has 
broadened the minds and enlarged the ideas of this 
people. Educational reform and Western ideas of 
civilization have met with a readier and more sym- 
pathetic acceptance here than in other parts of 
China. The Cantonese are largely the leading 
merchants and bankers in the principal cities, and 
the treaty ports in China, Japan, the Philippines, 
and the Straits settlements. As to trade, they are 
the Jews of the "Far East." All of these things 
go to make this one of the most interesting and 
promising missions in China. The thing for every 
man to do who is called of God to mission work is 
to decide where he can accomplish most for the 
glory of God by helping to bring in the reign of 
Christ, thus hastening the time when "He shall 
take to himself his great power and reign from the 
rivers to the end of the earth." 



The South China Mission. 

1. Main Stations — 

(1) Canton. 

(2) Wuchow. 

(3) Yingtak. 



68 Southern Baptist Foreign Missions. 

2. Church Statistics — 

(1) Churches, 28. 

(2) Church buildings, 70. 

(3) Membership, 4,235. 

(4) Out-stations, 61. 

(5) Sunday schools, 52. 

(6) Sunday school scholars, 1,817. 

3. Missionaries — 

(1) Foreign, 41. 

(2) Native, 180. 

4. Schools — 

(1) Day schools, 36. 

(2) Canton Boys' Academy. 

(3) Canton Girls' Boarding School. 

(4) Training School for Women (Canton). 

(5) Shiu Hing Woman's Boarding School. 

(6) Wuchow Boys' Boarding School. 

(7) Wuchow Woman's and Girls' Boarding School. 

(8) Yingtak Boys' Boarding School. 

(9) Yingtak Women's Boarding School. 

(10) Graves Theological Seminary (Canton). 

5. Medical — 

(1) Stout Memorial Hospital (Wuchow). 

(2) Dispensary near Wuchow. 

(3) Dispensary in Yingtak. 

6. General — 

(1) Work opened 1845. 

(2) Residences for missionaries owned by the Board, 

(3) Chinese Baptist Publication Society (Canton). 

(4) Home for Blind Girls (Canton). 



CHAPTER IV. 



THE CENTRAL CHINA MISSION. 

It will perhaps be most instructive and inter- 
esting to let the missionaries who organized the 
Central China Baptist Mission (formerly known 
as the Shanghai Baptist Mission) speak for them- 
selves. We are fortunate in having full records 
of their mission meetings. They will now tell us 
in their own words who organized the Mission, 
when and where it was organized, and show us 
how they transacted mission business in those 
early days : 

"Brethren James, Shuck, Tobey and Yates, hav- 
ing been appointed missionaries to the Chinese 
Empire by the Board of Foreign Missions of the 
Southern Baptist Convention, received instruc- 
tions from the said Board, December 18, 1846, to 
establish a mission at the city of Shanghai. 

"Brethren Shuck, Tobey and Yates, being to- 
gether at Hong Kong, and aware that matters of 
importance demanded their immediate attention, 
met on August 19, 1847, at the house of Brother 
Shuck for the purpose of organizing the said Mis- 
sion. 

"Brother Shuck, by request, opened the meeting 
with prayer. The choice of officers for the meet- 



70 Southern Baptist Foreign Missions. 

ing resulted in the election of Brother Shuck as 
Chairman and of Brother Yates as Treasurer." 

After a Constitution had been adopted, the fol- 
lowing preamble and resolutions were presented 
and adopted: 

"Whereas, Funds for the use of this Mission 
were placed in the hands of Brother Tobey, and 
the same having been by him disbursed according 
to account rendered by him, 

"Resolved, That the Mission sanction Brother 
Tobey's account, and that he be requested to trans- 
fer the remainder of the funds in his hands to 
Brother Yates, our present Treasurer. 

"Also, Resolved, That Yong Seen Sang and Mun 
Seen Sang be appointed as native preachers to 
labor in the city of Shanghai and vicinity, in 
connection with this Mission, the former at a 
salary of twelve and a half dollars per month, the 
latter at a salary of ten dollars a month, both 
commencing August 1, 1847. 

"Also, Resolved, That our Treasurer, Bev. M. T. 
Yates, be authorized to effect a loan of six hundred 
dollars, to meet the expenses of this Mission until 
our remittances arrive." 

Let us now look in on one of their Mission 
meetings : 

"Owing to various circumstances, the usual 
business meeting for the month of October did not 
occur until the evening of November 4, 1847. 
Present were Brethren Shuck, Tobey and Yates. 



The Central China Mission. 71 

"The meeting was opened with prayer by 
Brother Tobey. The journal of last meeting was 
then read. Brother Tobey presented a bill for 
expenses (Mrs. Tobey's illness in Hong Kong; also 
for books, Mission Library). Ordered to be paid; 
amount, $87. 

"The Treasurer's report was then read and re- 
ceived. 

"Brother Shuck presented a bill (Mrs. Shuck's 
illness in Hong Kong) ( Yong and Mun Seen Sang's 
salary), also a book for Mission Library. Ordered 
to be paid. Amount, $148.45. 

"Resolved, That our Treasurer be authorized to 
effect such a loan, in such amounts, at such times, 
and at such rates of interest, as in his own judg- 
ment may seem best for the Mission. 

"Also, Resolved, That our Treasurer be author- 
ized to request the Board in Kichmond to pay the 
rent for the next year of the house occupied by 
Brethren Yates and Shuck, by a bill on England 
instead of sending the money to Shanghai; 
amount of rent, $700. 

"Also, Resolved, That the members of this Mis- 
sion meet on Saturday evening, November 6th, for 
the purpose of forming a Baptist Church." 

Seed Sowing— 1846-1866. 

The first work of the missionaries was to study 
the language, and in this they encountered many 
difficulties, because at that time no books had 



72 Southern Baptist Foreign Missions. 

been prepared to assist new missionaries in ac- 
quiring the language. Morrison's was the only 
dictionary. This lack of books forced them to 
mingle with the people, and besides helping them 
to become good speakers, gave them many oppor- 
tunities of studying the people, and of learning 
how to adapt themselves to them. They were able 
to begin preaching after the first year. 

Chinese houses were rented, repaired, and 
adapted for street chapel use, and in these they 
held daily preaching services. One missionary 
would stand out on the street and invite the people 
in, while another would try to seat them, and the 
third would preach the Gospel. In this way 
thousands of sermons were preached and tens of 
thousands of people heard something of the way 
of salvation. 

The first church lot was purchased inside the 
old city in the midst of a dense population, early 
in 1849, and the first church building erected on it. 
It was finished and opened for the first service on 
the first Sunday in March, 1850. It was burned 
down on May 28, 1862, and we find the following 
in the minutes of the mission meeting of May 31, 
1862: 

"We feel deeply the loss of this house, the first 
church erected within the walls of Shanghai, but 
then we have reason to thank God that he has per- 
mitted his servants to preach the Word of Life 
almost daily within its sacred walls for a period of 



The Central China Mission. 73 

more than ten years, and it is supposed that more 
than 300,000 persons have heard the Gospel from 
first to last from its pulpit. May it prove as 
bread cast upon waters to be gathered for many 
days hence." 

The Civil War was raging at home, so that no 
money could be secured from the Board to rebuild 
the house, but God opened the hearts of the foreign 
merchants and friends in Shanghai, and they sub- 
scribed more than |5,000 to replace the church. 
The loss proved to be a gain in many ways. 

In those early years no foreigners, not even 
missionaries, were allowed to travel far inland 
from the open ports, so that it was impossible to 
do much work outside of Shanghai, but our mis- 
sionaries, as early as 1849, had an outstation at Oo 
Kah J ah, a few miles from Shanghai. They at 
first rented a Chinese house for a street chapel 
and a day school. It is interesting to note that 
this was the first work established by any denom- 
ination in the interior of China, and that the 
ladies of the Mission raised money in Shanghai to 
buy a lot and build a small house for a chapel and 
the day school. The missionaries soon broke over 
the restrictions of travel, and visited and preached 
in the great cities in this part of China. 

Mrs. Cabaniss was perhaps the first foreign 
woman to enter the walls of Soochow while out on 
a preaching tour with her husband. 

The missionaries realized the importance of 



74 Southern Baptist Foreign Missions. 

preparing and using Christian literature to assist 
them in their work of spreading the Gospel. Kev. 
J. L. Shuck had spent some time in Canton, and 
had acquired some knowledge of the written lan- 
guage before coming to Shanghai, so that he nat- 
urally took the lead in preparing the first litera- 
ture. We find many resolutions about literature 
in the minutes of the early mission meetings. We 
quote one : 

"Resolved, That Brother Shuck be requested to 
draw up a statement of the objects of the members 
of this Mission in coming to China, accompanied 
by an abstract of the Gospel in the Chinese lan- 
guage for distribution among the people of 
Shanghai." 

Mr. Shuck produced many tracts which were 
most helpful in enlightening the people on the 
subject of the Gospel. 

The missionaries also realized the importance 
of doing some work among the children, of sowing 
seed in the tender hearts of the young and estab- 
lished day schools in the street chapels. The 
wives of missionaries took the lead in this work. 
We might call it mother-missionary work. They 
had to pay the children a cent a day at first to 
induce them to attend school, but as early as 1853 
we find that Key. G. Pearcy established a day 
school in a village, and the villagers agreed to pay 
a part of the expenses. 



The Central China Mission. 75 

In the minutes of August 31, 1849, we find the 
following resolution: 

"Resolved, That we herewith submit to the 
Board that the result of our experience during this 
time has been an increased conviction of the 
serious importance of having a medical missionary 
connected with us as soon as it is possibly prac- 
ticable for the Board to secure a suitable man." 

The drowning of Dr. James before reaching 
Shanghai had prevented them from having a med- 
ical missionary from the beginning. Dr. C. W. 
Burton came in 1851. The Mission not having 
established any regular medical work by building 
and equipping a hospital, and there being a very 
great demand among foreigners for a physician 
in Shanghai, with the approval of the Mission, 
he ceased to be a missionary supported by the 
Board on January 1, 1859. 

His interest, however, in mission work did not 
abate, for he continued to assist the Mission both 
with time and money. During the Civil War, 
when the Board could not support its missionaries, 
he was a liberal contributor to their needs. 

Some of the results of this period are seen in a 
statement to the Board made by Yates, Crawford 
and Hartwell on April 9, 1866, at their last meet- 
ing, after which time Dr. and Mrs. Yates were left 
alone for many years : 

"Kegular services have been kept up at Shanghai 
in two and part of the time in three chapels. The 



76 Southern Baptist Foreign Missions. 

native church has for more than a year been sup- 
porting a native preacher. Baptized since 1861, 
8 ; lost by death, 2 ; present membership, 28. 

"At Tengchow regular services have been kept 
up in one and part of the time in two chapels. 
Baptized since 1861, 20; excluded, 3; present 
membership, 23." 

The number of Christians baptized and churches 
established do not by any means represent the full 
results of the labors of this period. It was a time 
of seed-sowing, not of harvesting ; a time of foun- 
dation-laying, not of house-building; a time of 
preparing for greater things in the future. 

The Yates Period— 1866-1888. 

We saw in the last section that all the mission- 
aries had left Shanghai except Dr. and Mrs. Yates t 
They arrived in Shanghai, September 2, 1847. 
They were truly the father and mother of the 
Mission, who laid the deep and broad foundations 
upon which we are now building. Dr. Tupper 
wrote of Dr. Yates : "The reputation of Dr. Yates 
is as broad as the earth and no broader than his 
character," and Mrs. Yates was in every sense 
broad enough to be his companion and helpmeet. 
Though dead, they still live in their works, in 
many loving hearts, and in their daughter, Mrs. 
J. F. Seaman, who has given many thousand dol- 
lars, much time and thought to carry on the work 
begun by her father and mother. 

This section describes a time that is peculiarly 



The Central China Mission. 77 

a "Yates Period," and its history can best be told 
in Dr. Yates' own language : 

"As I am alone, there have been no mission 
meetings during the year. My whole time has 
been devoted to mission work. With the aid of 
one unpaid assistant, I have maintained during the 
year seven public services each week at Sung We 
Dong and Kiaw Hwo Dong. During the summer 
I preached twice each month at Ling Ka Uyang 
Nyang, in the country. My services at Kiaw Hwo 
Dong have been well attended, and some interest 
manifested. I have baptized one "Voang Sen 
Sang." There are several cases of interest. O 
that the Lord of the harvest would grant a bless- 
ing upon my labors in my day." (December 31, 
1866.) 

"No record has been made for sixteen years, 
except Treasurer's account and Church record, 
and this has been kept in Chinese. During all 
these long years I have done the best I could to 
hold the fort alone. The church has had a steady 
growth, and several years ago sent out a colony to 
form a church at Quinsan (fifty miles from Shang- 
hai), where we now have a church of eighteen 
members, with a native pastor, See Sen Sang, 
and eighty-five members in the mother church at 
Shanghai. In addition to my preaching and class 
work, I have for some time been engaged in trans- 
lating into the Shanghai dialect the Gospels of 
Matthew, John, the Acts of the Apostles, and the 



78 Southern Baptist Foreign Missions. 

Epistle to the Bomans, in order that my churches 
might have the Scriptures in the language in 
which they think and speak. The above books 
have been published and are in use. I shall con- 
tinue, if the Lord permits, till the whole New 
Testament is completed. 

"Four days ago the U. S. Mail brought me the 
long-prayed-for colleague in the person of Eev. 
W. S. Walker. Also the Eev. C. W. Pruitt, for 
the Tengchow Mission in Shantung. May the 
Spirit of Truth so guide them that they may be- 
come indefatigable workers!" (January 31, 1882.) 

"For some time I have been trying to find a suit- 
able place for a chapel in the great city of Soo- 
chow. I am happy to say I have finally succeeded 
in purchasing a lot directly — L e., not through a 
Chinaman — on Lonton Street at Ping Hwo Djaw. 
My title deed has been duly authenticated by the 
local authorities. To Tsun Tang as Lontonloo is 
one of the principal streets of the city, ours is con- 
sidered to be one of the best positions in the city. 
May the Lord of the Harvest continue to prosper 
his work in that great city, which has for so 
many ages been given up to idolatry and vice." 
(July, 1882.) 

"W. J. Hunnex, who was formerly connected 
with the China Inland Mission, but who, after his 
resignation from the Inland Mission, has been 
received by our Board as an assistant missionary 
for one year, moved with his wife to Chinkiang on 



The Central China Mission. 79 

the Yangtse Kiver, where I have long been anxious 
to start a mission station." (January, 1883.) 

"The new chapel at Soochow, having been com- 
pleted, 35 x 23 feet, with two small offices on either 
side of the great door, and with a granite baptistry 
in the open court, was, on Sunday, the 10th inst., 
duly opened by appropriate religious services. On 
my way up I called at Quinsan and took with me 
Brother See Sen Sang to take part in the dedica- 
tion services. 

"The chapel was crowded to its utmost capacity 
with a disorderly and noisy crowd. After a short 
delay, they were ordered to sit down, when I 
preached to them, and See Sen Sang followed me. 
At three p.m. the native brethren, Lee and Tsee 
Nyi Shang and Tsung Tsoang Oh, preached in 
succession to large audiences. This is the begin- 
ning of our work in the Provincial city. May the 
fruit thereof shake like Lebanon!" (June 14, 
1883.) 

"Brother and Sister Walker (for on September 
19, 1883, Mr. Walker and Miss Lillian Ella Mateer, 
of Tengchow, were united in marriage) and I have 
just returned from Soochow. While there on 
Sunday, the 11th inst, we and Lee T'ay San, of 
Quinsan, organized the Baptist Church of Christ 
in Soochow, consisting of seven members — five 
male and two female. Immediately after the 
organization, the door was opened for the recep- 
tion of members, when two males presented them- 



80 Southern Baptist Foreign Missions. 

selves and were received. I at once proceeded to 
baptize them and two who had come tip from 
Quinsan in the new baptistry. This is the second 
colony that has gone out of the mother church at 
Shanghai." (November 14, 1883.) 

"You telegraphed me from the Convention, 
'Build your chapel.' I am happy in being able to 
inform the contributors to that fund that the 
Tsing-way dong is completed, and is in use daily. 

"Bryan will have nothing to do but to take the 
reins and drive off. But that will be enough to 
occupy his whole attention and skill. The train- 
ing of a yoke of young oxen or a team of young 
mules is nothing to the labor and patience required 
to bring into subjection to Christ a team of stolid 
Chinese. 

"North Carolina is doing well, having six repre- 
sentatives in China, and another at Wake Forest, 
who will soon come to the front to occupy Soo- 
chow. The influence of my alma mater will go 
on down through the ages. Her endowment ought 
to be doubled. I'll be one of two hundred to do it 
within five years." (November 8, 1885, to Eev. 
C. T. Bailey, D.D.) 

"My long-expected reinforcement arrived on the 
evening of the 13th. I had been down at the 
wharf until 5 p.m. Then I was told that the 
steamer would not come in till the next morning, 
and I returned home. I had not been at home an 
hour before someone pulled my front-door bell. I 



The Central China Mission. 81 

opened the door and found two strangers standing 
without who called out, 'Herring and Bryan. 1 
This was a surprise. By nine o'clock we had Mr. 
and Mrs. Herring and Mr. and Mrs. Bryan with us. 
Need I tell you that there was joy in this old 
house? Thanks be to God for all his mercies to 
them and to us. We have now seen enough of 
them to know that North Carolina has sent us the 
right men and women. They give promise to be 
real co-laborers in the right way, and seem to be 
ready to labor, and, if necessary, to suffer for 
Christ. 

"Brother Herring remains with me. Brother 
Bryan goes to Chinkiang. Now, we want two 
mountaineers for Soochow, to take charge of the 
little church there and work up the cities on the 
Grand Canal. This is a great field and a great 
opportunity." (January 19, 1886.) 

"For many years I have made special prayer 
that God would inspire some of the members of my 
church with the will and courage of their convic- 
tions to come out of the rut of spiritual medioc- 
rity. Thank the Lord, this prayer has been an- 
swered in the person of my deacon, Wong, who has 
been a member of my church about twenty-eight 
years. Having been blessed in temporal things, 
he felt he ought to manifest his gratitude to the 
Giver of All. This he has done by building on his 
own land at his own cost, a unique place of worship 
for the Chinese; and it is dedicated to the Lord 
forever. 

6 



82 Southern Baptist Foreign Missions. 

"Wong and his noble act are an inspiration to 
all. He has pointed out a new and better way. 
He is a forerunner in ushering in the self-support 
and religious spontaneity so desirable in China." 
(January 18, 1887.) 

"I thank the Board for remembering me. I 
fear, however, that the release came too late to be 
of much use in prolonging life and usefulness. 
When I awoke on the morning of June 30th, I 
was surprised beyond measure to find that some- 
thing serious had happened to me during my sleep. 
I could not get up. My left arm and leg seemed 
to have lost their cunning. I managed to get my 
feet to the floor, but my left foot could not bear 
my weight, and gravitation drew me to the floor. 
I could not rise without much help. 

"I sent for Dr. Douthwaite, who, after examina- 
tion, told me that I had decided premonitory 
symptoms of paralysis. He cautioned me to be 
very careful, and expressed the opinion that in a 
few days I should be able to walk again." (Che- 
foo, July 15, 1887.) 

Mrs. Yates, under the date of February 3, 1888, 
wrote : 

"My husband is better, and walks without stum- 
bling, although not with elasticity and endurance. 
He looks remarkably well, and eats and sleeps like 
a laborer, yet he is not like his old self. 

"I hope that the Board will accept his offer to 
give up his salary. It is not a new thought with 



The Central China Mission. 83 

either of us. It has been my heart's desire, these 
many years, to be self-supporting, and now, as we 
are fully able to be so, I hope that you will appro- 
priate our allowance to a new man for Chinkiang. 
"You know that during the American War we 
were thrown upon our own resources, without 
much expectation of being again connected with 
a Mission Board. My husband had no difficulty 
in earning more than enough for our support. 
Those savings, added to a small inheritance from 
my father, were invested in building lots. These 
have so risen in value that the income from them 
is ample for all our wants." 

Kev. K. T. Bryan wrote to the Recorder: 
"I am afraid Dr. Yates overtaxed himself with 
the new house, planning, buying, and instructing 
me and the carpenter. Just four weeks before his 
death he came up here again to help me about the 
house. He arrived about midnight, February 18th, 
and seemed very tired. 

"The next morning I heard a heavy fall, and, on 
running into his room, I found him lying on the 
floor. He was stunned by the fall and was unable 
to see. He told us that when he waked up he felt 
that the bed was turning over with him, and in his 
efforts to stay on, he fell off. The side of his head 
which he had struck in falling remained paralyzed 
until his death. He remained with us through 
the week, and on the 25th he returned to Shanghai. 
During this week he told me and the builder many 
things about the house. 



84 Southern Baptist Foreign Missions. 

"After another week I went down to see him. 
It was evident that he was sinking. One day, 
while rubbing his aching foot, I looked up and 
saw tears running down his cheeks; then he 
sobbed a few times. I wiped away the tears, and 
he said : 'So much work, and I can't do any of it!' 
I said, 'God can have it done.' He replied, 'But 
God needs men.' Shall these tears be disre- 
garded ?" 

March 21, 1888, Bev. D. W. Herring wrote to 
the Recorder: 

"Dr. Yates was buried on the afternoon of 
March 19th. The services were conducted by Dr. 
Gulick, Dr. Thompson, Pastor Wong and myself. 
A host of his friends — and no man here had more 
than he— were assembled on that beautiful spring 
day. 

"After going twice around the world, up and 
down this great Empire, and through typhoons 
and shipwrecks, and through the dangers of two 
wars, he has left his body to lie here in this ceme- 
tery which he, more than any other man, had made 
a place of beauty. 

"He said to me only a few days ago : 'The people 
at home want men to die on the field, and I am 
going to lay the foundation.' 

"There has been only One who could say, 'It is 
finished.' But there have been few men who have 
approached more nearly to the completion of their 
life work. He had on hand his translation of the 



The Central China Mission. 85 

New Testament and the completion of the house 
in Chinkiang. The first copies of the former were 
delivered at the chapel as his body was borne from 
his house. The latter is well under way, and he 
left full directions for its completion." 

Pastor Wong Ping San wrote: 

"Our believing and being saved, and what we 
have been able to do for Christ's cause, is all 
through Pastor Yates' instruction and exhorta- 
tion. The time since his arrival in Shanghai is 
forty-one years. As a man he was faithful and 
true. As a preacher he was clear, and all men 
delighted to hear him. He treated the disciples 
as his children ; therefore, they honored him as a 
father. He toiled for the Master, and spared not 
his own money. He established churches at Quin- 
san, Soochow, and Chinkiang. For more than a 
decade of years he has had no time to rest. Laying 
here the foundations of the Lord's cause, the work 
has fallen on him, one man. His years being 
many, his strength failed. Last year, taking his 
sickness along with him, he proceeded with the 
translation of the Scriptures, forgetting that he 
was sick. 

"Of us, the members of this church, there is not 
one who is not wounded and grieved at heart. His 
words of exhortation and prohibition, always 
timely, have been of immense benefit to us, and we 
cannot forget him." 

From the human standpoint, Dr. and Mrs. Yates 



86 Southern Baptist Foreign Missions. 

were left largely alone, but they knew that they 
were not alone, and the results show that God was 
with them. 

At the close of this period, the one main station 
had become two, Shanghai and Chinkiang, with 
two out-stations, Quinsan and Soochow. The one 
organized church of 28 members had become four 
with a membership of 125. 

It is encouraging to note that the visible results 
of this period are four times larger than that of 
the first period. That was a time of seed-sowing, 
this the beginning of harvesting and a preparation 
for the enlargement of the next period. 

Period of Enlargement — 1888-1909. 

One of Dr. Yates' dying sayings was, "But God 
needs men." Mrs. Yates was spared six years after 
his death to see the beginning of the supply of that 
need. She gave up her salary and mission home, 
and lived with her daughter, Mrs. J. F. Seaman, 
but continued to be the good shepherdess of the 
native Christians and the Mother of the Mission- 
aries. 

She believed in wise enlargement. On one occa- 
sion, while some young missionaries were arguing 
with her for enlargement in evangelistic work, she 
said : "Why are you arguing with me ? Go and 
open the new street chapel, and I will pay the 
expenses." She not only paid the opening expenses, 
but afterward made a contribution that continued 



The Central China Mission. 87 

to support this new work about a year after her 
death. 

She joined her husband on March 24, 1894, to 
enjoy with him the rewards of a long life of loving 
service, leaving behind a host of sorrow-stricken 
hearts to mourn the loss of "Mother Yates." 

The number of missionaries working in this 
period is so large that we cannot even introduce 
them. It would be a pleasing task to tell some of 
the things in which individuals have taken a lead- 
ing part, and what they are now doing, but the 
limits of this sketch will not permit us. 

We have all been working together among our- 
selves and with the native co-laborers and native 
Christians. One sows, another reaps, and we all 
rejoice together. 

During this period the number of missionaries 
has been greatly increased, the whole number 
having reached fifty-two. Only four have died 
during the twenty-one years, and only eight have 
resigned, leaving forty who are still missionaries 
of the Board. This is a record for which we are 
devoutly grateful and humbly proud. 

The number of workers has not been enlarged 
more than the work in which they are engaged. 

The Chinkiang Station was made a separate Mis- 
sion in 1889. There was a riot on February 5, 
1889, and the Mission property was burned. The 
Chinese Government promptly paid an indemnity, 
and God moved on in the establishment of his 
Kingdom. 



88 Southern Baptist Foreign Missions. 

The Yangchow Station was opened on December 
18, 1891, and the Church was organized with four 
members, two foreigners and two Chinese, on Feb- 
ruary 5, 1893. It was difficult at first even to rent 
a place, but in 1896 land was bought and a house 
built. Mr. and Mrs. Pierce moved into the first 
Mission-owned house on September 25, 1896. We 
now have five dwelling houses, one school building, 
one church building, one hospital, and one small 
building for woman's work, all of these with roomy 
grounds, and one large place for another dwelling 
house. The church has grown steadily, and now 
has nearly fifty members. 

The Chinkiang Mission reunited with the Shang- 
hai Mission on January 14, 1897, and the two 
became the Central China Baptist Mission. In 
union there has been not only strength, but en- 
largement on all lines. 

An Association of the churches of the Shanghai 
Mission had been organized in May, 1895. The 
two churches of the Chinkiang Mission joined, 
and rapid enlargement has followed. The three 
churches that began the Association have now 
become thirteen, and the one hundred and twenty- 
five members have increased to more than seven 
hundred, with many inquirers, and many more 
who are not far from the Kingdom of Heaven. 

The missionaries have not given so large a pro- 
portion of their time to evangelistic work, but this 
has been greatly enlarged by the increased number 
of native evangelists. There are now quite a num- 



The Central China Mission. 89 

ber of out-stations occupied by our native co-labor- 
ers. The church members also are adding their 
contribution by personal work, and the Associa- 
tion has its Home Mission Board that employs one 
native evangelist. 

The native Bible women are doing a great work 
among their sisters. Dear old Sister Dzung is 
constantly preaching the Gospel to the Chinese 
women. 

The Mission was doing almost no school work at 
the beginning of this period, but the quality and 
quantity of the schools have been very greatly in- 
creased. There are now two boarding academies 
for girls and two for boys, and one each for girls 
and boys to be opened soon. Soochow is also 
planning to have a boarding school for girls. 
There are a number of day schools. This host of 
boys and girls, many of whom become Christians, 
and all of whom learn something of Christian 
truth, means much for the future. There were no 
training schools for women ; now there are three, 
in which many women are being trained to work 
for God. 

After much preliminary consultation and 
prayer, a union in higher educational work was 
consummated in 1905 between the Northern and 
Southern Boards. Each Board has contributed 
f 40,000, TJ. S. gold currency; twenty-seven and 
one-half acres of land have been purchased ; seven 
buildings have been erected; a Theological Sem- 
inary of forty students has been established; a 



90 Southern Baptist Foreign Missions. 

college was opened last year and has about fifty 
students; other buildings are being planned for 
the near future. 

The enlargement and equipment of the work has 
kept pace with the increased number of workers. 
God has prepared us for a great harvest, and we 
are praying that it may soon come. 

The sunset is beautiful and glorious, but it does 
not represent the outlook of this Mission. It re- 
minds of the song, "Work, for the night is com- 
ing." The sunrise is a better illustration of the 
future prospects. It comes to tell us that "the 
morning light is breaking, the darkness disap- 
pears." 

The Central China Mission. 

1. Main Stations — 

(1) Shanghai. 

(2) Soochow. 

(3) Chinkiang. 

(4) Yangchow. 

2. Church Statistics — 

(1) Churches, 16. 

(2) Church buildings, 6. 

(3) Membership, 818. 

(4) Out-stations, 16. 

(5) Sunday schools, 14. 

(6) Sunday school scholars, 705. 

3. Missionaries — 

(1) Foreign, 33. 

(2) Natives, 33. 



The Central China Mission. 91 

4. Schools — 

(1) Day schools, 11. 

(2) Shanghai Boys' Academy. 

(3) Eliza Yates Memorial Girls' School (Shanghai). 

(4) Cantonese Girls' School (Shanghai). 

(5) Smith Bible School for Women (Shanghai). 

(6) Boys' School (Soochow). 

(7) Girls' School (Soochow). 

(8) Girls' Boarding School (Yangchow). 

(9) Boys' School (Yangchow). 

(10) Shanghai Baptist College and Seminary. 

5. Medical — 

(1) Yangchow Hospital. 

(2) Dispensary near Yangchow. 

6. General — 

(1) Work opened 1847. 

(2) Residences for missionaries owned by the Board, 

15. 



CHAPTER V. 



THE NORTH CHINA MISSION. 

The North China Mission occupies two prefect- 
ural cities, Tengchow and Laichow. These are 
sub-capitals, with officials having jurisdiction over 
several counties. Another station is at Chefoo, a 
treaty port where international trade is con 
ducted. Our other tw^o stations are inland, and 
have a purely Chinese population. They are 
Hwanghien and Pingtu. The territory we influ- 
ence from these five stations is reckoned to con- 
tain a population of about five millions. 

Laying the Foundations — 1860-1880. 

Each successive war with a foreign power has 
had the effect of opening China wider to the gospel. 
Chefoo was opened to foreign trade and to mission- 
ary residence when peace was made with the 
French and English in the autumn of 1860. Mr. 
J. L. Holmes, a man of fine intellect and attractive 
personality, was the first to enter this field. The 
treaty port was new, the field was new and very 
inviting. But Mr. Holmes was destined to work 
in it less than a year. The long-haired rebels, 
with whom Mr. Holmes had conferred near Shang- 

(92) 



The North China Mission. 93 

hai in their northward movement, affiliated with 
the roughs in Shantung, who were of a different 
and more diabolic temper. Mr. Holmes went out 
to parley with these over the safety of Chefoo and 
was cruelly slain by them, both he and his com- 
panion. Mrs. Holmes afterward joined the Teng- 
chow work, thus temporarily closing our station 
in Chefoo. 

Dr. J. B. Hartwell, with his family, in the early 
months of 1861, with the true spirit of a pioneer, 
settled in Tengchow and began a great work for 
the Lord. The early years in Tengchow were 
attended with such difficulties as these : a strong 
prejudice against renting houses to foreigners, 
the fewness of the workers, country overrun by 
bandits, cholera epidemics, frequent invasions of 
missionary homes by death, and troubles incident 
to the Civil War in America, all of which the 
little band of American missionaries surmounted 
with a genuine heroism sustained by a sublime 
faith in their cause. 

This period saw the organization of two 
churches, both in Tengchow. The charter mem- 
bers of those churches have largely passed to their 
home above, but a very few still remain, among the 
rest the man whose honor it was to be the first in 
Shantung to be baptized, a brother Wang of Tso 
Shu Tswang. A marked characteristic of our 
work in China has always been the slight demark- 
ation between the preachers and the laymen. In 
this period there was only one ordained preacher, 



94 Southern Baptist Foreign Missions. 

but there were quite a number of men whose evan- 
gelistic gifts were noteworthy, men who led souls 
to Christ. Perhaps of these the principal was 
Tsang Yun Te, for whose baptism the ice was cut 
in the Hwanghien moat, but whose heart was so 
warm that he led a multitude of his relatives and 
neighbors to the Lord. Although a plain farmer, 
his prayers were frequently continued to the small 
hours of the night. 

The schools organized in this period had some 
characteristics which have largely passed away. 
They were less self-supporting, and the pupils nec- 
essarily were drawn largely or almost wholly from 
non-Christian families. It is not strange that the 
missionaries felt dissatisfied with their efforts in 
this department. But even about those schools 
there is one thing which ought to be indelibly 
burned into our memories. It is that out of those 
schools came men and women who are today our 
best workers and the brightest lights in our Shan- 
tung Baptist work. 

During this period, Chefoo was again occupied 
by us for a short time. The family residing there 
was again compelled to leave on account of bad 
health. 

When we reflect that during those two decades 
the North China Mission had only three men, one 
of whom lived less than a year after reaching the 
field, and another had his work cut short by sev- 
eral years on account of the illness of his wife ; and 
six women whose average service for the period is 



The North China Mission. 95 

only nine years, we are constrained to say, "What 
hath God wrought !" At the close of the period, 
we find that hundreds have been baptized, scores 
have taken the courses in schools, six or seven 
chapels for frequent evangelistic services have 
been opened in as many centers, that two churches 
have been organized, that Mr. Hartwell has cov- 
ered an enormous part of the country in his horse- 
back itineraries, and that his name is a household 
word ; that Mr. Crawford, in addition to his evan- 
gelistic work, has done some literary work of real 
value, many of his translations of hymns being in 
use to the present day. We find that Mrs. Craw- 
ford and Mrs. Holmes have taken the gospel story 
into hundreds of villages and thousands of homes, 
and that the Misses Moon had wrought w^ell in 
homes and schools. Did not the period begin with 
the martyrdom of one of our number? Was it 
not further sanctified by the death of Mrs. Hart- 
well and three of her children, and by the suffer- 
ings and loneliness of all the rest? 

Tearing Up the Foundations — 1881-1889. 

Mission methods have always been a live topic 
in North China. The missionaries after a time 
grew dissatisfied with their schools so largely sup- 
ported from America. They came also to doubt 
the wisdom of supporting evangelists and Bible 
women from mission funds. The chief argument 
against these was whatever ground there may 



96 Southern Baptist Foreign Missions. 

have been for the taunt, "rice Christian/' hurled 
at us by Chinese and foreigner alike. On the 
other hand, it was exceedingly difficult to give up 
these practices lest the work should be injured, 
for other denominations were continuing them. 
There were also members of our own Mission who 
did not feel so strongly. The revolutionists finally 
had their way. The schools were disbanded, and 
no money for the time went to the support of evan- 
gelistic work when done by Chinese. 

The North China Mission existed for almost a 
quarter of a century with scarcely any change in 
its personnel. But since then, great changes have 
come. The young blood of our home churches has 
been poured into our Mission stations. There 
have been since our Mission was first organized in 
1861, fifty-nine persons appointed to work in it. 
Of these, nine were appointed in the first twenty 
years and fifty have been appointed in the remain- 
ing twenty-eight years. This is surely very en- 
couraging. A goodly proportion of these rein- 
forcements came within the second period. There 
were the Bosticks, the Joiners, the Davaults, the 
Halcombs, the Pruitts, the Leagues, and others. 

With the coming in of new life, there came 
growth. New stations were occupied. Hwanghien 
had been long talked of. Tours for preaching 
brought other places more and more into view. 
Gradually Hwanghien and Pingtu were elected. 
Hwanghien greatly appealed to Dr. Crawford, be- 
cause of its wealth and because many of his mem- 





Yates Hall, Shanghai, China Yingtak Baptist Church 

Pagoda Pagoda, Yangchow, China 

Compound, Canton, China 
Carter Girls' School, Hwanghien, China. 



The North China Mission. 97 

bers lived in that country. The struggles to get 
a foothold there were interesting. Those rich 
Hwanghien men bought over or terrified every 
man that offered a house. And when at last the 
Mission was on the point of winning success, they 
tried three very powerful methods, all of which in 
this case failed. They had the middle man who 
negotiated the matter thrown into prison and 
severely beaten; they raised a mob to intimidate 
or kill the missionary, but fortunately he had left 
before the mob assembled ; they attempted to bribe 
the viceroy, Li Hung Chang, who is reported to have 
told them they were acting very foolishly. And so 
the house was rented. The first missionaries ap- 
pointed to that station, Messrs. N. W. Halcomb 
and C. W. Pruitt, both lost their wives before they 
could move. Then two others were appointed 
who went. But in this case, too, trial was in 
store. One of them, Mr. E. E. Davault, died 
shortly afterward, and the other, Mr. J. M. Joiner, 
broke down in health and returned to America. 
But the Mission was able to keep up the station. 
The opening of the Pingtu station, while falling 
slightly beyond the limit assigned to this period, 
belong to it quite truly. To a lady was given 
the honor of opening that very prosperous station, 
and that after the men of the Mission had failed. 
The Mission realized it was getting a prize in 
Pingtu. But when Miss Moon was invited to go 
out and look after some women who were inter- 
ested, the men of the Mission did not know they 

7 



98 Southern Baptist Foreign Missions. 

were giving her the opportunity of accomplishing 
what they had tried, but had failed to do. She 
walked in so quietly, so unostentatiously, so smil- 
ingly, that the objectors either forgot to make 
objection or else they did not realize what she was 
doing till it was done. Truth compels that there 
be added to this statement the fact that she lived 
so humbly in a poor, unfurnished, hired Chinese 
house that it greatly preyed upon her health, and 
for a long time anxiety was felt about her. After 
this heroic opening, the Pingtu station has been 
occupied by families, first by Mr. T. J. League, 
and later by Mr. W. H. Sears and others. 

The discussion of methods reached its climax 
when the missionaries composing the North China 
Mission, in 1893, mutually agreed to separate for 
the highest good of the work. The extremists, 
about twelve in number, decided to locate in 
Taianfu and other places in the west, and called 
themselves "Gospel Missioners." Our Mission was 
left in peaceable possession of all the old territory. 
Thus a long struggle was happily ended. Not 
that we never expect discussion of methods any 
more. We shall always have them. But happily 
such sharp divisions are not always necessary. 
The Gospel Missioners pulling out left the North 
China Mission weak, barely able to maintain the 
three stations then on our hands. 

There were several reasons why the growth of 
this period was comparatively not equal to the 
growth of the first period. Many of the mission- 



The North China Mission. 99 

aries were new to the work, and most of their 
energies were devoted to learning the Chinese lan- 
guage. Schools and native helpers had been 
largely given up, and these are fruitful agencies 
in a mission work. This policy naturally some- 
what alienated the Chinese brethren, and in some 
cases, actually turned their energies toward build- 
ing up other denominations. Then, naturally, too 
great discussion of methods defeats its own end, 
too much energy being spent in discussion and 
not enough in aggressive work. But in spite of 
these reasons, two new churches were organized — 
one at Hwanghien and one at Saling in Pingtu. 

Developing Our Plans— 1890-1900. 

Dr. Hartwell, after several years work among 
the Chinese in the United States, returned to 
China to help reorganize our Mission after the 
separation of the Gospel Missioners. He came 
back to us ripe in experience and rich in spiritual 
life. He settled in Tengchow, where for a period 
of years he was a tremendous power as a preacher. 
His preaching was full of instruction, of good 
understanding of Chinese life, and of intense 
action just such as the Chinese enjoy. Dr. Hart- 
welPs return to Shantung marked the beginning 
of our third period. 

It is astonishing how slowly conviction grows. 
It was a long time after the Gospel Mission separa- 
tion before the Mission took up its true policy and 



100 Southern Baptist Foreign Missions. 

started schools again. The old arguments must 
have time to become obscured in the mind. Our 
Chinese were widely scattered and wholly unfitted 
to bring their children together in school. The 
missionaries would be remiss should they fail in 
face of this plain opportunity. For the children 
to grow up in ignorance and idolatry would be a 
fatal mistake, and one from which the mission- 
aries would find it hard indeed to shift the respons- 
ibility. Our policy gradually grew clear and 
strong: a Christian education, at least to the ex- 
tent of being able to read the Bible, for every boy 
and girl of every Christian family in our connec- 
tion. We would try to enlist everyone, parents 
and others, in the support of these institutions. 
At first we started two schools — the one for boys 
at Hwanghien under the care of Mrs. Pruitt, and 
the other for girls, at Tengchow, under the care of 
Mrs. Hartwell. 

Medical work had for a long time commended 
itself to the missionaries. We prayed for a man 
for Pingtu. We believed he would greatly bless 
the missionaries there, and at the same time open 
wider doors of usefulness. We hailed it as a good 
providence when Dr. H. A. Eandle, of the China 
Inland Mission, applied for appointment to that 
field. Although attached to the Pingtu station, 
Dr. Eandle was a decided strength to all our sta- 
tions. Dr. Handle's business ability was so fine 
that the medical work under his care was more 
than self-supporting. 



The North China Mission. 101 

Mr. John W. Lowe, in passing Laichowfu on his 
way from Pingtu to Hwanghien, felt profoundly 
stirred to open that great city and surrounding 
region to the gospel. Ever since its opening 
shortly afterward, he has been able to direct a tre- 
mendous amount of sanctified energy against its 
bulwarks of heathenism. Laichowfu is sixty 
miles west of Hwanghien, and thirty-three north 
of Pingtu. Like these, it is in the midst of a 
flourishing agricultural community. The situa- 
tion is admirable for evangelistic work. The 
opening of Laichowfu belongs to the transition 
between our third and fourth periods. 

The New Era— 1901-1909. 

We now reach a period of rapid expansion. This 
is due to several causes : The discussion of methods 
has practically subsided, leaving the Mission in a 
state of aggressiveness which is very helpful. The 
Boxer uprising has just passed, and its terrific 
advance either drove out or burned up much that 
hindered. All this synchronized with the coming 
into our Mission of a large number of very fine 
workers, both men and women. These consisted 
of doctors, nurses, unmarried women, and preach- 
ers. They come from many States of our South- 
land, and so we have mingled the aggressiveness of 
the West with the conservatism of the East. 

The Boxer uprising was due to a strange blend- 
ing of political and religious causes. The Chinese 



102 Southern Baptist Foreign Missions. 

are not nearly so much disposed to persecution on 
account of religion as are some other people, but 
the fact that the missionaries had for nearly a cen- 
tury been protected by treaty had created a suspi- 
cion that our mission was a political one and that 
we were the forerunners of armies of aggression, 
and that the Chinese in becoming Christians be- 
came apostate to their own country. This sus- 
picion seemed confirmed when, on the murder of 
a German Catholic missionary in Shangtung, the 
Germans sieged Tsingtau, the finest port on our 
Shantung coast. This was followed by Kussia 
acquiring Port Arthur and Great Britain Wei- 
haiwei. 

The Boxer secret societies grew with remarkable 
rapidity during the winter of 1899-1900. About 
them there were two remarkable things : one was 
their unalterable opposition to everything foreign 
— matches, cloth, religion, and all. The other was 
their fancy that faith in their protecting deity 
rendered them invulnerable against foreign bul- 
lets and swords. The movement reached such a 
frenzy by the spring of 1900 that it looked to many 
as if it must sweep everything before it. Its en- 
ergy was cyclonic, its dread was paralyzing, its 
influence all but universal in the Chinese Empire. 
One important man, Yuan Shih Kai, was, however, 
not swept off his feet, and coming, as he did, in 
the midst of the development to be governor of 
Shantung, practically saved the situation there. 
It was he who changed the edict from the throne, 



The North China Mission. 103 

"Kill all foreigners/' so as to read, "Protect all 
foreigners," and transmitted it so to all the officials 
under him. The Shantung missionaries owe their 
lives to him. 

All our North China missionaries had to flee, 
some taking refuge in Tsingtau, some in Chefoo, 
and some in Japan, while one family whose fur- 
lough was at hand, returned for a period to Amer- 
ica. Those who fled to Chefoo suffered most, per- 
haps, on account of the crowded condition in that 
port. Thirty or forty people were crowded into 
Mrs. Seaman's summer home at Chefoo. The men 
patrolled the streets at night to prevent surprise, 
while the women took turns superintending the 
affairs of the large family. Our Chinese brethren 
suffered more. Among them were some martyrs. 
A number of others were imprisoned and re- 
peatedly beaten to induce them to recant, which 
they all refused to do. The mission houses at 
Pingtu were first looted and then torn down. 

On account of the large number of faithful mar- 
tyrs on their list, Chinese Christians have ever 
since had a higher standing in the world. They 
have, consequently, been more aggressive. The 
Chinese government has, itself, felt the effect and 
determined upon reforms of the most wide-reach- 
ing importance. Among these may be mentioned 
the introduction of a constitution, with attendant 
legislative bodies and a public school system mod- 
eled on that of the West. It is impossible to over- 
estimate the importance of this last reform, involv- 



104 Southern Baptist Foreign Missions. 

ing, as it does, a curriculum as wide as that of our 
own schools, to replace the old, narrow curriculum 
which was hoary with age, and which was totally 
unsuited to the needs of modern life. Already we 
have seen some tremendous effects of this reform 
upon our mission work in Shantung. The mis- 
sionaries have a higher standing among the Chi- 
nese, and are frequently sought after for advice, 
and bright students are brought for instruction in 
our schools. Another very delightful result of the 
Boxer struggle is that missionaries are no longer 
looked upon with suspicion, but are everywhere 
regarded as true men. This grew out of the fact 
that our Western governments did not follow up 
their opportunity and divide China, as the Chinese 
supposed they would do. Indeed, the whole atti- 
tude toward Christianity is saner, and we believe 
more hopeful. 

We are hoping to have a well-equipped school 
or academy for each sex at every one of our five 
stations. We have these schools in embryo now. 
They need developing and furnishing. The three 
oldest of these schools — the Girls' School at Teng- 
chow and the Boys' Schools at Hwanghien and 
Pingtu — have been doing fine work for years, The 
Pingtu school has turned out a noticeably large 
number of finely-equipped young men. The 
Hwanghien school has graduated fewer, but has 
some very fine workers among those who have 
taken its courses. We almost prize more the 
graduates of our Girls' School in Tengchow, who 



The North China Mission. 105 

are invading homes and doing more than any other 
class to break down the superstition of ages. In 
these various schools there is great hope for 
trained workers for the future. Among our 
church members there are none who understand 
quite so well the difference between superstition 
and true religion as do those who have gone 
through our schools. 

For a long time our Mission had realized the 
necessity of special training for our constant 
workers. It was in May, 1903, that we determined 
to go forward with that work, and organize the 
North China Training School for Men. During 
the first two years, 1904 and 1905, the teaching 
was done in Tengchow, because of the fact that 
Hwanghien had no suitable buildings. Two of 
the missionaries, Drs. J. B. Hartwell and C. W. 
Pruitt, gave their entire time to this work. They 
were greatly pleased at the progress made by the 
students in spite of the fact that several of them 
were rather advanced in life. From the first, it 
was regarded as a training-school, and the stu- 
dents were led to undertake a great deal of prac- 
tical work among the heathen population. No 
step we have ever taken has so thoroughly ap- 
pealed to the Chinese brethren as the establishment 
of this school. They see in it the possibility of the 
Chinese getting a comprehensive knowledge of the 
Christian system from which circumstances had 
previously excluded them. It was in 1905, while 
working still in Tengchow, that the gladdening 



106 Southern Baptist Foreign Missions. 

news reached us that Hon. J. C. Bush, of Mobile, 
Ala., had given the handsome sum of ten thousand 
dollars for the buildings to be erected in Hwang- 
hien, and that the name of the institution was to 
be henceforth The Bush Theological Seminary. 
Our enthusiasm knew no bounds. We saw the 
hope of our institution living and blessing future 
generations of Chinese people. The Seminary has 
now turned out several classes, and quite a number 
of those who have taken the course are powerful 
preachers of the Word. 

The Bible Woman's Training School at Lai- 
chowfu w r as scarcely less needed than our Semi- 
nary. It is only necessary to state the need for 
Bible Women that it be realized. The Chinese 
women are secluded, shut in, kept to themselves, 
and so have no opportunity of hearing of our Lord 
unless the herald goes within the seclusion and 
there tells the story. Our Bible women, because 
of the truth having made them free, have a greater 
liberty, and move among the homes with great 
power and love. The Training School is to meet 
the needs of this class. It was organized some- 
what later than the Seminary, and has fewer stu- 
dents, but its drill is thorough and its usefulness 
already recognized. Miss Mary E. Willeford has 
had charge of the Training School from its organi- 
zation. 

Dr. T. W. Avers was the first medical mission- 
ary to settle in Hwanghien. Shortly afterward, 
the First Baptist Church in Macon, Ga., contrib- 



The North China Mission. 107 

uted money for the hospital at Hwanghien, to be 
called the Warren Memorial Hospital, in memory 
of Dr. Warren, who was for many years the be- 
loved pastor of that church. The hospital occu- 
pies a sightly spot on the eastern side of Hwang- 
hien city. Some of its features may be mentioned : 
It has in-patients and out-patients. The latter 
simply sit in one of the waiting rooms till called 
for. After examination, they receive their med- 
icine, pay the fee, and take their departure, to 
come again or not as circumstances may require. 
The in-patients have more severe diseases, and are 
assigned a place in one of the rooms of the hos- 
pital. The room is the only thing given them 
except in the case of charity patients, who are not 
very numerous. The in-patients supply their own 
food, fuel, bedding, and nurses, if they require any, 
and pay for their medicines as do the out-patients. 
In addition to this, the wealthy among the patients 
and friends of the hospital make contributions 
once or twice a year towards the expenses of the 
institution. The waiting rooms, as well as the 
wards, are the scenes of very active and constant 
evangelistic effort. Miss J. L. Pettigrew, a trained 
nurse of great ability, has charge of the women's 
wards of this institution. 

Dr. Oxner went to Pingtu in 1903 and entered 
upon the medical work. The demands were large, 
the equipment almost nil. The doctor was very 
conscientious and exceedingly anxious to accom- 
plish all he possibly could in his work. He plead 



108 Southern Baptist Foreign Missions. 

with the friends at home for equipment, but the 
means were insufficient. The burden under its 
trying circumstances was too much for him, and 
in April, 1907, he laid it down to join those who 
"rest from their labors.'' His appeal was not in 
vain, and the Oxner Memorial Hospital is being 
erected as an outcome in the city where he died. 
"He being dead, yet speaketh." 

Dr. and Mrs. Huckaby came in 1904. That their 
hearts were in the work was the thorough convic- 
tion of every member of the Mission. After four 
short years, like Dr. Oxner, they both passed on to 
be with Christ. Another very pathetic point was 
that Dr. Huckaby was Mrs. Oxner's brother, this 
making her affliction a treble one. 

The latest addition to our hospital equipment is 
the Mayfield-Tyzzer Hospital, which has just been 
completed at Laichowfu. This splendid building 
was contributed by Doctors Mayfield and Tyzzer, 
of St. Louis, Mo. Blessings be on these two gen- 
erous men ! 

Chefoo was occupied the third time in 1906. Mr. 
Peyton Stephens led in this occupation. His ex- 
perience in China peculiarly fitted him to under- 
take this work. In it he was joined by the Mor- 
gans, and together they have built up a very pros- 
perous work. 

Problems and Progress. 

Ancestral worship is more alive than any other 
part of the Shantung religion. It seems to be 



The North China Mission. 109 

most piously observed. In many cases hundreds 
of dollars' worth of paper is burned to furnish the 
dead parents with money and other things neces- 
sary for their comfort in the world of spirits. 
Yet it is difficult to say that even ancestral wor- 
ship is really founded on faith. These burnings 
so persistently practiced seem to have their motive 
in two sentiments — the one a desire to preserve 
Chinese institutions, the other a feeling of affec- 
tion for the departed. There is little evidence 
that they really believe the paper they burn is con- 
verted into spiritual money, furniture, and other 
needed articles, although theoretically they hold 
that doctrine. 

In Shantung there are no separate country resi- 
dences, as we have them in America. Even 
country people all live in villages, and from there 
go out to work the land around them. These 
villages vary in size, the population ranging any- 
where from twenty or thirty to ten thousand. 
There are to them several advantages of living in 
villages, viz. : mutual protection against robbers ; 
less outlay for stock and agricultural implements, 
these being largely used in common ; greater econ- 
omy of land in buildings ; and greater opportunity 
to be neighborly, in which the Chinese excel. In 
the more densely populated districts these villages 
dot the plains in a most charming manner. From 
some eminence, hundreds may often be counted 
without shifting one's position. 

Notwithstanding the density of population, in 



110 Southern Baptist Foreign Missions. 

Shantung, our more than two thousand members 
are scattered over six or seven counties. In num- 
bers of cases the nearest Christian neighbor is 
many miles away. Our Shantung membership 
being so widely scattered is one of the reasons why 
we do not ordinarily have protracted meetings, as 
usually held in America. Our membership cannot 
easily get together. In lieu of the protracted 
meeting, we have evangelistic and educational 
classes, in which a number of people come together 
frequently from great distances and study the 
Bible together for a period of ten or twenty days. 
Some of these classes are for inquirers and some 
for new Christians. All are highly used of the 
Lord in building up our work. 

In modes of travel, the Shantung missionaries 
are at a disadvantage in comparison with our 
Central and South China Missions. The Shen 
tsze, or mule litter, is probably the most comfort- 
able. But even this is fearfully fatigueing and 
nauseating to many. This is due to its being 
carried on the backs of two mules, which often fail 
to keep step, or otherwise walk unevenly. But the 
Shentze affords good capacity for taking along 
the necessary bedding and other necessary equip- 
page for a Shantung journey. Other less attract- 
ive modes are the cart, muleback, donkeyback, and 
on foot. Chinese carts are clumsy, over fearfully 
uneven roads, and travel in them is attended with 
a great deal of danger. 

From Chefoo to Pingtu, taking in our other 



The North China Mission. Ill 

stations en route, is only one hundred and seventy 
miles, but to make the journey requires as long a 
time as it would take you in a Pullman car to go 
from New York to San Francisco, and you must 
expend about five times the energy that journey 
would require. So it turns out that miles are not 
altogether a correct measure of distance. 

In spite of these inconveniences, many mission- 
aries habitually make long tours for preaching. 
The motive thereto is various : to sow widely thq 
gospel seed, to look up people who are known to be 
interested, and to keep in touch with those who 
have been baptized. Frequently weeks are spent 
in this kind of travel, even in winter, when the 
mercury coquettes with zero and when the mis- 
sionary never sees a suggestion of fire for heating 
purposes day or night. 

The Shantung people hold learning in high 
esteem. They almost worship the printed page. 
The characters which look so repulsive to the man 
of the West, to the Chinaman are sacred. Were 
they not wrought out by Confucius? Does not 
their use mean the widespread prevalence of his 
principles? Our missionaries are taking advan- 
tage of this love of literature to circulate the 
greatest of all literature. We keep a considerable 
number of colporters employed all the time. We 
are trying to sow down the whole land with Chris- 
tian publications. Our China Baptist Publication 
Society is a great blessing to the work in this 
respect, 



112 Southern Baptist Foreign Missions. 

In the present state of our work, there is a dom- 
inant note of hopefulness. Evangelism is decid- 
edly aggressive. There are many indications of a 
desire on the part of the Chinese to take up the 
work for themselves and push it. They have annu- 
ally from one to three associational evangelists, 
the present number being three. The last Asso- 
ciation was held in April, 1909. Nineteen churches 
reported. The total membership, including the 
Swedish Baptist work, was 2,421. Of these, 581 
had been baptized since the preceding association, 
which, however, met in November, 1907. With 
this aggressive band of devoted workers, and with 
a thorough cooperation on the part of our Ameri- 
can churches, we have a large hope for the evan- 
gelization of Shantung. 

The North China Mission. 

1. Main Stations — 

(1) Chefoo. 

(2) Tengchow. 

(3) Hwanghien. 

(4) Laichowfu. 

(5) Pingtu. 

2. Church Statistics— 

(1) Churches, 17. 

(2) Membership, 2,223. 

(3) Church buildings, 26. 

(4) Out-stations, 49. 

(5) Sunday schools, 44. 

(6) Sunday school scholars, 1,770. 



The North China Mission. 113 

3. Missionaries — 

(1) Foreign, 45. 

(2) Native, 80. 

4. Schools — 

(1) Day schools, 58. 

(2) Chefoo Girls' School. 

(3) Tengchow Girls' Boarding School. 

(4) Hwanghien Boys' Academy. 

(5) Carter Girls' School (Hwanghien). 

(6) Pingtu Girls' School. 

(7) North China Institute (Pingtu). 

(8) Girls' School (Laichowfu). 

(9) Boys' School (Laichowfu). 

(10) Woman's Training School (Laichowfu). 

(11) Bush Theological Seminary (Hwanghien). 

5. Medical — 

(1) Warren Memorial Hospital (Hwanghien). 

(2) Mayfield-Tyzzer Hospital (Laichowfu). 

(3) Oxner Memorial Hospital (Pingtu). 

6. General — 

(1) Work opened 1860. 

(2) Residences for missionaries owned by the Board, 

13. 

8 



CHAPTER VI. 



THE INTERIOR CHINA MISSION. 

A little child of five years, who has been reason- 
ably healthy, who has not been specially bad, and 
who has not been remarkably good, cannot be said 
to have much history which is of interest to out- 
siders. It is intensely interesting to the parents, 
but as its past is so much the same as others, under 
the same circumstances, even its brothers and sis- 
ters care little to hear its doings rehearsed. But 
this much may be said for the child, while there 
has scarcely been any past, or history, there is a 
present which is daily full of interest, and there is 
beyond, a future, possibly most glorious, the 
visions of which only the eye of God has caught in 
its perfectness, the fulfillment of which he will be 
bringing to pass as the child is able to bear it. 
So the Interior China Mission of the American 
Southern Baptists in China appears to us who 
have labored in it during the five years of its 
existence. 

In different places and at different times, Mr. 
Sallee and Mr. Lawton felt very much burdened 
for the great mass of Chinese in the far interior. 
Not that our fields in South, Central, and North 
China were fully manned, not that the work 
(ii4) 



The Interior China Mission. 115 

already begun was not offering wonderful oppor- 
tunities for service, not that there was a desire to 
undertake the new and difficult work, and not 
that there were absolutely no missionaries in the 
interior, but for the fact that workers in the inte- 
rior were far fewer than on the coast, owing prob- 
ably to the fact that the coast cities have been 
accessible to missionaries for about one hundred 
years. Also that millions interior had not had 
the opportunity of hearing the gospel once in a 
lifetime. Then, too, Honan, as many provinces 
long ago have done, is waking up to the fact that 
she must have Western learning, or be relegated to 
the background, and she is reaching out in every 
direction for the new. If she is not given Christ 
at this time, we must look for a Honan not Chris- 
tian, but agnostic. Sad to say, she is not asking 
for true religion, and to all appearance does not 
want it, "but not those that desire Him most, but 
those that needed Him most, appealed most 
strongly to Jesus." How great the need that true 
Christians live and teach Christ in such a way that 
they must say, "I want what you have." The 
greatest and most compelling reason for taking 
Christ to Interior China is that Christ commanded 
his disciples to go into all the world and preach 
the gospel to every creature. We, as Southern 
Baptists, want to take Christ to all China as much 
as in us lies. So Mr. Lawton and Mr. Sallee cov- 
eted that our Southern Baptists embrace this 
opportunity to work together with God in carry- 



116 Southern Baptist Foreign Missions. 

ing the gospel into this stronghold of Chinese 
heathenism. 

Mr. Sallee came to China in 1903 and found Mr. 
Lawton feeling as he did about interior mission 
work. After consultation with the Central 
China Mission, they started on an extensive trip 
in the interior through Hupeh, Honan, and return- 
ing to the coast through Kwangtung. They trav- 
eled two hundred miles on foot and many hundred 
by small native boats. They were escorted 
through difficult places by soldiers, in order that 
no harm might come to "Uncle Sam's" subjects so 
far interior. Later they took a trip into Honan, 
and were directed to Chengchow, which is the very 
heart of the Honan province. It is at the junction 
of the great railroad running from Peking to Han- 
kow, to be continued to Canton, and another road 
to run from the east coast into the great northwest, 
thus making the one-time little city of Chengchow 
a future great interior city, where the four quar- 
ters of China meet on common ground. In these 
five years since the coming of the railroad and the 
missionaries, a strong city has been built up out- 
side the west gate. This, together with the old 
city and the densely populated villages, offers to 
our Southern Baptists a unique vantage ground 
from which to influence a vast section of Interior 
China. 

After a location was decided upon, the next 
thing was to rent property. A few years ago a 
foreigner could scarcely enter some Honan cities, 



The Interior China Mission. 117 

much less rent property, but God seemed to pre- 
pare the hearts of some of the Mohammedans to 
rent property to our missionaries, and the task 
was to make these native Chinese houses habitable 
for Mrs. Lawton and the children. After a partial 
preparation was made, Mrs. Lawton came from a 
comfortable foreign house to live in a native house 
in Chengchow. Gladly did she begin this new 
work, not thinking of personal comfort, wanting 
to help these new people among whom she had 
come to live. 

Besides regular preaching services, every oppor- 
tunity was used to make the people understand 
the "New Doctrine." As in the beginning of the 
gospel, the common people heard the word gladly. 
Strange to say, among those who heard were a 
number of Mohammedans. It is generally con- 
ceded that the Mohammedans are the hardest 
people in the world to be reached by the Gospel. 
The Lord seemed to do a work in the hearts of a 
few, and in a short while there were two Moham- 
medans asking for baptism. They received in- 
structions for many months before they were 
received for baptism. It was a happy time for the 
foreigners when the baptismal waters were first 
troubled in Chengchow. Since this others have 
been baptized, and a church of twenty-eight mem- 
bers has been organized. 

The work among the women was rather slow, 
owing to the fact that for three years there was no 
woman able to devote her entire time to them, 



118 Southern Baptist Foreign Missions. 

but all along there were some asking the way and 
several have been baptized. One of these, an old 
woman, gives evidence of a great desire to see 
others saved, and she enjoys telling the gospel to 
her lost friends, and God is using her efforts. O 
for fifty consecrated Chinese women to spread the 
Gospel News! 

There have been two Sunday schools kept up in 
Chengchow, and also two day schools. The chief 
object of these day schools is to teach the Bible, 
but secular books are also taught. Some bright 
pupils have been discovered in these day schools, 
and it is hoped that we may be able to increase the 
number of the day schools, making them feeders 
for the higher schools. 

Five regular out-stations have been opened, and 
regular visits made to other places, which seem 
ready for the gospel. These latter cannot be 
opened, as there are no available native evangelists 
to station there. The Interior Mission has seven 
native evangelists engaged in the work, either in 
the hospital, book-rooms, or out-stations. Mr. 
and Mrs. Herring's return from the Gospel Mission 
has added materially to the evangelistic force. 
Besides doing much of the regular preaching, Mr. 
Herring has preached in scores of the country vil- 
lages. 

Dr. Louthan has fitted up a native building in 
Chengchow, for a temporary hospita 1 , where he 
can accommodate forty patients. He has opened 
three of the five out-stations above mentioned, 



The Interior China Mission. 119 

where he is regularly preaching and healing. The 
first year the hospital was opened he had about 
three thousand patients and preached to many 
more. Only God can tell the far-reaching influ- 
ence of a missionary doctor as he goes about heal- 
ing diseases and ministering to sin-sick souls. 

As Chengchow was such an important place and 
not occupied by any other mission, it was decided 
to settle there first, but with the view of pressing 
on to the capital city, Kaifeng. Feeling that 
Kaifeng was the place to locate the principal 
schools of the mission, and that the time was ripe 
for opening such work, and as Mr. and Mrs. Sallee 
had been set apart for school work at least for 
some years, it was decided that they move to Kai- 
feng, which is located forty-five miles due east 
from Chengchow. Not only the mission felt that 
it was time to begin such work, but when Dr. 
Willingham visited us in 1907, he thought it a 
great opportunity. In September, 1908, Mr. and 
Mrs. Sallee rented a native house in Kaifeng and 
moved from Chengchow, where their first friends 
among the Chinese had been made, and their first 
work in China had been done. 

From September until Chinese New Year new 
friends were being made ; Mrs. Sallee, especially, 
was being looked at critically by the natives who 
were not used to foreign women. They were not 
quite sure but that she would scoop out their 
children's eyes for medicine. The gospel story 
was being told to the multitude for the first time ; 



120 ^southern Baptist Foreign Missions. 

and arrangements being made for opening the 
schools. 

At the beginning of the Chinese New Year the 
Academy was opened with nearly thirty boys in 
attendance. A small school for girls was opened 
in the crowded quarters of Mrs. Sallee's own court. 
Fear that the foreigner would eat the children 
keeps many girls out of the Christian schools. 
This must be lived down. Our girls' schools must 
look to the Christians of the homeland for support 
until Honan wakes to the fact that her daughters 
deserve as much and as good education as her sons, 
and that there is no more likelihood of the for- 
eigner eating girls than boys. We were success- 
ful in renting good quarters for the boys' school, 
which afforded ample room. The women of Texas 
agreed to raise $3,000.00 for the erection of the 
first girls' school for the Interior China Mission, 
to be known as the "Annie Jenkins Bailee School 
for Girls." The Board granted permission, and 
half the money is already in the treasury of the 
Interior Mission, the remainder will be quickly 
coming, and we hope the school will be built soon. 

The Board of the Southern Baptist Convention 
owns ten acres of land outside of Chengchow city, 
upon which two comfortable foreign houses 
have been built, a hospital compound, upon 
which the building is to be erected very soon; 
land for three more foreign residences, together 
with Mary Lawton Memorial Woman's Home, 
given by the Lawton brothers. 



The Interior China Mission. 121 

A field of ripened grain wasting and rotting, be- 
cause the gleaner delays his coming, attracts every- 
one's pity, if not sympathy ; but Honan does not 
present such a scene; no, would that it did! 
How strongly it would appeal to the multitude for 
help, but it is like a field of flint. The workman 
picks away through the long hours of the day, and 
when night comes how much has he accomplished ? 
The second day? the third? one year? two? 
Is the pick dull? Is there some other method? 
The chips are very few. Why is it? Because it 
is flint. We have kept back the gospel so long 
that these flinty hearts must bear the gospel many, 
many times before it seems to make any impres- 
sion. To hear that there is a true God who sees 
and cares is all so mysterious that it must be told 
over and over until it can begin to enter into their 
thoughts and become a part of their very beings. 
Some hear once, some return to hear again, but 
many never get beyond the first truths. Today we 
need men and women who are willing to tell over 
and again the same Old Story, but in His power 
to tell it with newness and vigor. 

There are four men and four women in the Inte- 
rior China Mission. Miss Mclntyre, who has been 
out only a few months, is devoting her time to the 
study of the language, and rightly so. Mrs. Her- 
ring a,nd Mrs. Lawton have interesting families of 
six children each. God has given them a great 
work to do for Him in rearing these in a special 
way for him. But their hearts are fully in the 



122 Southern Baptist Foreign Missions. 

work, and they find many ways of helping the 
Chinese, both by their examples in the home and 
by leading women's and children's meetings when 
possible. This leaves only five to give their entire 
time to the millions who are depending upon them 
for Gospel teaching. 

See a tract of land about the size of the State of 
Missouri, containing the population of Maryland, 
Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, North Carolina, 
South Carolina, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, 
Louisiana, and Texas, and you will be able to gain 
some conception of Honan and her dense popula- 
tion of 22,000,000 people, then think of three or 
four families as the representatives of our South- 
ern Baptist Convention. What should our people 
do about this? 

In one of the great power houses which controls 
the water supply of Chicago there are two tremen- 
dous wheels, twelve or fourteen feet in diameter. 
These wheels almost make one dizzy with their 
constant whiz and with the number of other wheels 
set in motion by them. Underneath all this great 
machinery there is a man hidden away, a man 
greasy and dirty, but from this place, all unno- 
ticed, he commands every part of this great ma- 
chinery. So in Honan, there must be not only a 
man underneath, but there must be many men 
and women who are willing to hide themselves 
away in the dark interior and labor unseen and 
unsung with one hand holding to the poor heathen 
and the other laying hold to the Throne of Power. 



The Interior China Mission. 123 

"For whosoever will save his life shall lose it, but 
whosoever will lose his life for my sake and the 
gospel's, the same shall save it." 

The Interior China Mission. 

1. Main Stations — 

(1) Chengchow. 

(2) Kaifeng. 

2. Church Statistics— 

(1) Churches, 1. 

(2) Members, 28. 

(3) Out-stations, 5. 

(4) Sunday schools, 2. 

(5) Sunday school scholars, 75. 

3. Missionaries — 

(1) Foreign, 8. 

(2) Native, 9. 

4. Schools — 

(1) Day schools, 3. 

(2) Boys' School (Kaifeng). 

(3) Annie Jenkins Sallee School for Girls (Kaifeng). 

5. Medical — Dispensary at Chengchow. 

6. General — 

(1) Work opened in 1904. 

(2) Residences of missionaries owned by the Board, 2. 

(3) Mary Lawton Memorial Woman's Home (Chen- 

chow). 



CHAPTER VII. 



THE AFRICAN MISSION. 



Country and People. 

Southern Baptist mission work is conducted 
among the Yoruba tribes in Nigeria, West Coast 
of Africa. Being in the tropics, the climate is 
always warm, but nicely tempered by sea breezes. 
In January and February, however, there is a 
dry, cool wind, called "Harmattan," blowing from 
the north, filling the air with a kind of mist, or 
dust, some say, from the desert, which is very dis- 
agreeable, and to the natives, cold. The usual 
range of temperature is between 70 and 95 de- 
grees. 

In the main a high and rolling country, with 
few swamps, except on the coast, one would ex- 
pect health, yet along with Sierra Leone, it has 
been long known as the white man's grave. The 
percentage of mortality and break-downs is still 
very great. 

The people are pure negroes, but as negroes they 
are a fine-looking people. They are all shades of 
black, from exceedingly black to quite light color, 
mahogany color, yellow, and so on. There are 

(124) 



The African Mission. 



125 



c^-jU 




A . F R I c 



5AK MM GERIA 


IBACJAM ^jj 

J . abeoi 
'^LAeosNJ 


■B0N050 , r 



77* 



^. 



126 Southern Baptist Foreign Missions. 

very few mixed with white blood, except on the 
coast, and in the railroad towns. Possibly much 
of the light color we see among the pure negroes 
is of Arabian origin, but it is very ancient. Much 
more of it is seen among some interior tribes, as 
among the Fulahs. Many people think that the 
pure negro is a very ugly fellow, and that our 
American negro is a great improvement on the 
pure African negro. But this is a mistake. If 
there is a difference, the African negro is the 
better looking of the two. They are frequently 
quite delicate of form and feature, and are a nice 
looking people, with, of course, the negro features. 
The Brazil negroes are called Portuguese, and 
speak the Portuguese language as well as the 
Yoruba. 

It is estimated that there are about four million 
people speaking the Yoruba language. They live 
in villages, town, and cities. There are cities 
from ten thousand up to two hundred thousand 
inhabitants. But they are mere collections of 
native houses, and not streets lined with business 
houses. Business is transacted in large markets 
held in the open or under trees and booths. Then 
there are large markets held at certain places 
every five or seven days, where people from all 
parts of the country gather to do business. Some 
come several hundred miles to these markets, 
making one or two trips a year. Some of these 
markets are cities of booths, uninhabited except 



The African Mission. 127 

on market days. Goods from every part of the 
world may be found in these markets. 

The houses are made of clay built into the walls 
while soft, and allowed to dry in layers. The 
walls are about seven or eight feet high, and the 
rooms seven or eight feet square. A series of 
these rooms is built around an open court, the 
rooms opening into a piazza which opens into the 
court. The rooms and piazza are covered with 
a high, steep roof of poles and grass. There are 
no windows, and only small doors. The floor is 
of beaten earth, which is washed once a week with 
a native composition which keeps it hard and 
smooth. Their only furniture is grass mats and 
skins of animals, on which they sit or sleep. 
Sometimes they have small stools, not to mention 
gin boxes and the like. In these days the lead- 
ing chiefs have a few chairs which are furnished 
to white men who call upon them. 

They are an industrial people, working at farm- 
ing and many trades. There are cloth weavers, 
mat, basket, pottery makers, cloth dyers, leather 
workers, gourd carvers, blacksmiths, wood work- 
ers (making hollowware, doors, carved posts, 
tool handles, etc.), tailors, builders (building 
house walls is a trade), and traders, who make 
trading expeditions to their large markets for 
trade. Most of their work is crude, but it an- 
swers their purposes. Nearly every one does 
some farming, whatever else he does. Their ideas 
of work suitable for men or women are not so far 



128 Southern Baptist Foreign Missions. 

different from our own, except that women are 
burden bearers. Men carry burdens, too, and 
heavier ones than women can carry very often, 
but if there is but one load between a woman and 
man, the woman would expect to carry it, though 
often the man would take his turn. 

In honor, the man is always preferred, and yet 
they show great respect for their women, espe- 
cially the younger men for the older women, and 
the women exercise great influence. Showing re- 
spect for seniority runs all through the family 
and social life of the people. All sewing and 
nearly all weaving is done by men, though women 
make one kind of cloth. Most of the selling in 
the markets, but not all, is done by women. With 
few exceptions, the men do the farming, but the 
women help to gather the harvest and carry it to 
town. Women are the potters, and they do the 
cloth coloring. Women are seldom idle, partly 
because the most of their work is at home. Men 
are often idle, partly because when at home in 
town they are absent from their work, and have 
nothing special to do. 

Everything, including cats and dogs and field 
rats, is used for food. All food except fruits is 
cooked, and their cooking is quite complicated 
and extensive. 

They are pagans, worshipping a great many 
idols, including the devil. Not very many are 
represented by images. A great many natural 
objects, such as trees, rocks, rivers, snakes, etc., 



; ; ; : : .:.; 



smm^ Mm,,.- 



'..:,,._ o m^M^:£jMz -rick-- 







Ml A 



Training School at Ogbomoso C. E. smith 

Drummers in Africa 
Church at Lagos Dr. Green in Dispensary 



The African Mission. 129 

are worshiped, as containing the spirit of the 
god or of some person long dead. They believe 
in multitudes of spirits, good and bad, whose 
favor must be obtained or anger placated by 
prayer and sacrifice. They also often worship the 
spirts of their ancestors. The rulers, especially, 
once a year offer sacrifice at the graves of all their 
predecessors. They will tell us that the visible 
object worshiped is so worshiped only as contain- 
ing the spirit of the god or person, and they use 
a different name for the visible object and the 
spirit, but these are often confounded, and it is 
doubtful if the distinction is always made in 
their thought. Their worship consists in placing 
blood, some unused portions of the animal, food 
and money (a small shell) upon the object wor- 
shiped or place of worship, and in genuflections 
and forms of words and sometimes dancing. They 
observe also annual feasts to individual gods. 

The country is under English rule, but, with 
few exceptions, the native rulers are left in con- 
trol with certain limitations, and always subject 
to the English officers. 

A railroad is now built from Lagos to Ilorin. 
about 300 miles, and will, some time, be extended 
to the far interior. Under English direction, 
roads have been built in many parts of the coun- 
try, and on some of these there is an automobile 
service. All this is in great contrast to bush 
paths, absence of all convenience, wars, dangers 
to life and property of twenty-five years ago. 

9 



130 Southern Baptist Foreign Missions. 
Our Work Previous to 1875. 

Our first work in Africa was in Liberia, 1,000 
miles west of the Yoruba country, and was carried 
on by colored missionaries. 

In 1821 Lott Carey and Colin Teague, of Kicii- 
mond, Va., were sent as missionaries to the negro 
colonists in Liberia by the Old Triennial Conven- 
tion, and began their work in Monrovia, West 
Africa. The work from the very first showed 
great prosperity. Carey proved himself to be 
a great leader, and the Mission to Africa was a 
most gratifying success. 

As soon as the Southern Baptist Convention 
was organized the eyes of the Foreign Mission 
Board were turned toward Africa. A report 
adopted at the meeting of the Southern Baptist 
Convention in 1846, in Bichmond, Va., summa- 
rized the progress already made. 

"Twenty-five years ago a little church of only 
seven members, with Lott Carey as pastor, was 
organized in an upper room of a private dwelling 
in this city. That church is now the first Baptist 
Church of Monrovia. It has become the mother 
of some seven to ten churches, and also of the 
Providence Baptist Association of Liberia. Since 
that period, hundreds of colored Baptists have 
emigrated from this country, and settled perma- 
nently in the land of their forefathers. They will 
gladly cooperate with the Board of this Conven- 
tion, and particularly with the vast numbers of 



The African Mission. 131 

their colored brethren in the Southern States, in 
spreading the gospel over that benighted country." 

In the fall of this same year the Eev. John Day 
and Eev. A. L. Jones were appointed as mission- 
aries to Liberia. 

Finally, after much correspondence, in 185G 
the Northern Board transferred its Mission in 
Liberia to the Southern Baptist Convention, and 
Southern Baptists watched with peculiar interest 
the progress of their missionary endeavors in the 
"dark continent." The work grew so rapidly that 
in 1861 there w T ere twenty-four churches with a 
membership of 1,258. It had proved to be one of 
the most fruitful fields of the Convention. 

"In these fields," said one Board report, "more 
than a thousand believers have been baptized by 
our missionaries. For the number of stations 
and the extent of the field, these missions have 
been less expensive, and in the number of acces- 
sions, more remunerative, than any under our 
control." 

Then the war came on, and the Board was 
forced to withdraw its support, and the native 
churches were thrown upon their own resources. 
The missionaries and other leaders heroically de- 
termined to keep up the work as far as possible, 
even though they had no support from the Board. 
Too much cannot be said of the way these mis- 
sionaries sacrificed during that trying time, and 
even after the war, when the Board was so im- 



132 Southern Baptist Foreign Missions. 

poverished that it could not send help to these 
needy missionaries, they still held on. 

In 1871 the Board resumed the work in Africa, 
but the lack of funds made it impossible to carry 
forward the work in a very adequate way. Fin- 
ally, in 1875, because the Board thought that it 
was possible to enter the central portion of Africa 
more advantageously through the Yoruba coun- 
try, the work in Liberia was abandoned, and thus 
was closed sadly a brilliant chapter in our mis- 
sionary history. 

About 1850 T. J. Bowen and Henry Goodale 
entered Liberia with a view to starting work in 
the far interior, perhaps back of Yoruba land. 
While in the interior of Liberia Goodale died, 
and Bowen returned to the coast and sailed to 
Badagri, the then English port of the Yoruba 
country. Bowen was very anxious to get to the 
far interior back of the Yoruba country, where 
he believed there were healthy highlands. After 
a great many hardships and difficulties, and be- 
ing prevented by native chiefs from getting be- 
yond the Yoruba country, he returned to America 
for more missionaries. Beaching Africa again, 
he established work at Ijaiye, Ogbomoso, and 
later at Oyo, all interior cities of the Yoruba 
country, and where there were no others working. 
Needing communication with Lagos, on the coast, 
the missionaries later occupied Abeokuta, which 
was already occupied by others. In the meantime, 
about 1850, the English had interfered in a 



The African Mission. 133 

native quarrel in Lagos, putting an anti-slave 
trade claimant on the throne, and after some 
years, Lagos became English headquarters. Our 
work in the Yoruba country really began with 
the settlement of Brethren Bowen and co-laborers 
. at Ijaiye in 1854. The time previous to this had 
been spent by Bowen in finding out where we 
could work, and in the return home for mission- 
aries. Ijaiye was one of the largest and most im- 
portant towns of the country, and was the home 
of the then chief military officer of the whole 
country. Work was opened in Ogbomoso in 1855. 
This also was one of the larger cities of the coun- 
try. Soon after 1855 we had eight men and five 
women on the field. But West Africa was to 
prove true to its reputation as the white man's 
grave, for very soon six of these were in African 
graves, and several had been compelled to return 
home. Yet the work was progressing. Cheap 
mission houses and chapels were built at our 
several stations, and work was being done in three 
cities and four stations. 

In 1864 our colored missionary, Harden, who 
had been removed from our Liberian Mission and 
stationed at Lagos, died. Mrs. Keid had died at 
Ogbomoso, Mrs. Philips at Ijaiye, and several 
others at other points. 

In 1860-61 war against Ijaiye by the rest of 
the Yoruba country, led by the large city of Iba- 
dan (200,000 inhabitants), resulted in the de- 
struction of the city, the killing or capture of 



134 Southern Baptist Foreign Missions. 

large numbers of its inhabitants, and the disper= 
sion of the rest. 

Ten thousand or more of these settled in Abeo- 
kuta, which was not a Yoruba city, and it is 
among these in that city our chief work was car- 
ried on for many years. Thus our main work 
was destroyed. Brother Stone, who had been 
captured by the Ibadans in the beginning of the 
war, and had made his escape, brought the na- 
tive children of the mission to Abeokuta, where 
Philips was already at work. During this time, 
Reid, being cut off from all communication from 
the outside, was shut up alone in Oyo for twenty- 
seven months, having to live and dress as do the 
natives. I have heard some of the native Chris- 
tians, who were children then, tell of Reid's sur- 
prising appearance when he finally got away and 
reached Abeokuta. Clark had been located at 
Ogbomoso, but in 1859-60 he gave up the work. 

About 1865 a great persecution broke out in 
Abeokuta, in which all mission property and prop- 
erty of the Christians was destroyed, or stolen, 
and the Christians and missionaries were driven 
out and greatly mistreated. Philips was one of 
these. All escaped to Lagos, the missionaries be- 
ing taken by force by the natives, and greatly 
persecuted on the way. This practically des- 
troyed all our work except at Lagos, though there 
were still a few unbaptized converts at Ogbomoso 
and Abeokuta. Clark had left a very good house, 
nicely furnished and a fine case of books at Ogbo- 



The African Mission. 135 

moso, which were nearly all taken by the natives. 
Even the marble slab at Mrs. Keid's grave was 
broken up, taken away and sold for grinding 
stones. In 1868 Philips gave up the work, and in 
1869 Stone's health completely failed so that he 
was compelled to retire. Thus our work had 
practically ceased in 1869 except the few converts 
left principally in Lagos. These, M. L. Stone, a 
boy trained by missionary Stone, whose name he 
took, held together until we again had a mission- 
ary on the field. 

The Mission After 1875. 

A little before 1875 God moved upon the heart 
of W. J. David, of Meridian, Miss., to offer him 
self for our work. He was born in 1850, and 
did a great work in Africa for fourteen years. 
He was really the founder of our present 
work, having no advantage over the mission- 
aries beginning a new work, except that 
he found a few converts, and a young man 
reafly at hand to help him. David and Colley 
(a colored man sent by the colored churches) 
sailed in January, 1875, for West Africa. By 
direction of the Board, David closed up our work 
in Liberia, and before the close of the year he and 
Oolley had begun to re-open our work in the 
Yoruba country. David found a young carpenter, 
M. L. Stone, preaching to the converts in Lagos, 
and working at his trade for a living. David em- 
ployed him as a mission worker, and he has been 



136 Southern Baptist Foreign Missions. 

the very first of our native preachers ever since. 
He is today the pastor of the large self-supporting 
church at Lagos. 

As soon as possible David visited Abeokuta and 
Ogbomoso, reorganizing the work. Until then, 
since the persecution above mentioned, white men 
had not been allowed to enter Abeokuta, and 
traveling was still dangerous. David found a few 
converts at each place and baptized a number, 
whom he organized into churches. Later he placed 
Stone in charge at Ogbomoso. Most of the con- 
verts he found at Abeokuta proved worthless, but 
those at Ogbomoso had kept up services all those 
years under a large tree in the mission yard, and 
became the foundation of our highly successful 
work there. A large proportion of our native 
workers have come from the Ogbomoso church. 

Colley, our colored missionary, retired from the 
work in 1879. In the meantime David had re- 
turned home in broken health. Having recovered 
his health and married, he and Mrs. David re- 
turned to Africa in 1879. 

In 1882 P. A. Eubank, a graduate of the Semi- 
nary at Louisville, and Mrs. Eubank sailed for 
Africa. In their first year they had a very 
serious time with the African fever. They under- 
took to settle at Abeokuta, and did for a time, 
but so uncomfortable was the house, and so un- 
sanitary the surroundings, their health became 
impaired, and they were compelled to return to 
Lagos. Later, in 1884, when the Davids were 



The African Mission. 137 

compelled to return home to recuperate health, 
the Eubanks were needed to take charge in Lagos. 
In those days it was necessary that we have a 
missionary located at Lagos. It is not so now. 

In October, 1884, W. W. Harvey and wife, S. 
M. Cook, and C. E. Smith reached Lagos Decem- 
ber 15, two months after sailing from New York. 

We were all put to work at once preaching, but 
through interpreters. Nearly all missionaries 
then of all societies preached through interpre- 
ters. Most of them had not been in the work long 
enough to use the language in public speech. 

The Davids returned to Africa in March, 1885, 
in such an exceedingly small sailing ship that it 
was a wonder to me they could cross the ocean in 
it. The ship carried materials for the new church 
then being built in Lagos. It had no other cargo, 
so it came straight to Lagos. Soon after this the 
Harveys and the writer located at Abeokuta; 
Cook, the Davids, and Eubanks remaining in 
Lagos. The writer was very much troubled with 
fever for the first year, but fared better the rest 
of his stay in Africa. Harvey had splendid health 
the first year, then his health gave way, and after 
struggling on for awhile, he was compelled to re- 
turn to America, and after a few years he died 
from the effects of the African climate. After a 
little more than a year, Cook returned home, but 
returned to Africa several times to look after the 
mission work which he carried on independently. 
On a recent visit he died of the dreaded black water 



138 Southern Baptist Foreign Missions. 

fever in Ibadan, where a church house has been 
built to his memory. 

Near the end of 1885, there being a little disturb- 
ance in our church at Ogbomoso, and it having 
been a long time since the station had received a 
visit from a missionary, I made that city a visit. 
I had to pay a chief at Abeokuta |25.00 in goods 
to be allowed to travel twenty-five miles of the 
journey and for protection. The rest of the two 
hundred miles was free, except the paying of tolls 
at various points. At the little town of Eruwa, 
surrounded by mountains, I was met by Chris- 
tians from Ogbomoso who had come to guide me 
and carry my loads. I shall never forget the 
cordial welcome they gave me, saying many times, 
"Baraka," "Baraka," which means peace. 

On the morning of the fourth day, after meet- 
ing these friends, and six days after leaving Abe- 
okuta, I reached Ogbomoso, where our native 
brother, Lewis O. Fadipe, was in charge, and who 
gave me a hearty welcome. I had had a hard 
journey, and had been sick part of the time, and 
the night before I had slept in a hut where the 
water from a hard rain poured into one corner 
of the room by buckets full. Before I left 
Ogbomoso, I had a hard siege of fever. I found 
at Ogbomoso a little church of twenty members. 
I preached in the little thatched roof, mud wall 
chapel. It was crowded to suffocation, and crowds 
stood outside at the windows and doors. They 
were not used to the white man then, most of 



The African Mission. 139 

them having never seen one. Wherever I went 
crowds were at my heels. I could not eat in 
private, and scarcely sleep in private for the 
crowds would not leave me. Times have quite 
changed now, and a white man is scarcely noticed. 
I remained one month and baptized twelve con- 
verts. 

In June, 1885, Mrs. David was taken ill, and in 
an effort to save her life, Brother David started 
home with her. In a few days she fell asleep in 
Jesus, and her remains were buried in the ocean 
off the "Gold Coast." Her last words to the 
stricken husband were, "Don't give up Africa." 
Brother David proceeded to America, bringing his 
little girl, Nettie, and the babe a few weeks old. 
Every one loved Mrs. David. Hers was one of 
the most beautiful Christian characters. 

In March, 1886, Miss Cynthia Elba Morris, of 
St. Genevieve County, Mo., who had taken lectures 
at the Seminary in Louisville two sessions, came 
to Africa, and was married to the writer. 

While at home, David married and returned 
with his bride to Africa. Soon afterward my 
wife and I located at Abeokuta, where we labored 
for two years, building a much needed church 
house, establishing a day school, and making con- 
siderable progress in the work. It was soon after 
locating here, and twenty months after entering 
the country, that I began to preach in the native 
tongue. 

In 1887 the condition of our work in Ogbomoso 



140 Southern Baptist Foreign Missions. 

was such as to require a missionary to be located 
there, and I was asked to go. Though there was 
a war of many years standing going on, and the 
country was full of war parties and robbers, we 
undertook the journey. There was no decent 
house to live in, and the only fairly decent room 
we had was so small that our bed, a large English 
one, took up about four-fifths of the space. Grass 
roof, clay walls and floor, two small openings for 
windows, with wooden shutters, and a clay and 
stick ceiling made up our palace. Here my wife 
had a long siege of fever. And to add to our har- 
rowing experiences, people were brought to us, 
the first ones in the middle of the night, cut to 
pieces by war, kidnapping and robber parties, for 
us to dress their wounds. To add to all our other 
difficulties one of our members made trouble with 
our native evangelist and led three-fourths of the 
members away. They did not return for over a 
year. 

Not long before this a faction had occurred in 
the Lagos church which took away three-fourths 
of the members there. These were dark times, 
but all has worked out to the furtherance of the 
cause. We had scarcely settled at Ogbomoso and 
the Eubanks had not yet gone to Abeokuta, where 
they expected to locate, when the Davids broke 
down and were compelled to return home. The 
Eubanks had to remain in Lagos, and Abeokuta 
was again left alone. We had so few trained na- 



The African Mission. 141 

tive workers then that it was far worse for these 
places to be left without a missionary than now. 

In July, 1888, Mr. and Mrs. C. C. Newton and 
three of their children (Miss Newton as a mis- 
sionary), and W. T. Lumbley and wife reached 
Lagos. My wife and I went to Lagos to meet 
them, and to bring the Lumbleys with us to Ogbo- 
moso. Some of the chiefs gave us much trouble 
on the way down, and we had to pay considerable 
money to be allowed to pass. While in Lagos 
making my arrangements to return, my wife was 
suddenly stricken with "blackwater" fever, and 
died the third day. Soon after I started back to 
Ogbomoso by way of Abeokuta, taking the Lum- 
bleys with me. On reaching Abeokuta the chiefs 
would not allow us to pass beyond, though they 
had promised me we could do so, and I had paid 
them for the privilege. So, leaving the Lumbleys 
with the Eubanks at Abeokuta, I returned to 
Lagos and started back by the route I had come 
down. Again I had a great deal of trouble with 
the chiefs, and had to pay for the privilege of 
passing. Finally I reached Ogbomoso and en- 
tered my home, a home full of sad reminders. 

I labored on alone until I was taken danger- 
ously ill. No one but natives were near me, and 
all communication practically cut off by the wars. 
After a long time, one of my notes passing from 
hand to hand, reached Eubank at Abeokuta, and 
by paying $25.00 for the privilege he was allowed 
to pass under special restrictions, and came to 



142 Southern Baptist Foreign Missions. 

me. In the meantime, Brother Pinnock, then 
with the Wesleyans at Ibadan, seventy miles from 
me, had come and spent a week with me. I was 
now in broken health, after five years in Africa, 
and was ordered home. 

I spent eighteen months at home, and before 
returning (1891) was married to Miss Lucy Shen- 
stone. About 1891 the Eubanks returned home, 
and having no home in which to place their child, 
they resigned the work. In 1892 the Newtons 
took a vacation in America, and after returning 
to Africa, Mr. and Mrs. Newton fell victims to 
the blackwater fever, Brother Newton dying at 
sea in the beginning of 1903. A few years after- 
ward, Miss Newton, then Mrs. SutcHffe, died in 
Lagos of the same fever. 

Some time in 1891 S. G. Pinnock and wife came 
to us from the Wesleyans, and located in Oyo, 
Keid's old field. 

I had always tried to do some training work, 
but a few years ago I undertook a theological 
training school at my own expense. Later, the 
Board undertook the support of the school, and 
now we have a good school, and fairly good, but 
inexpensive buildings at Ogbomoso. 

After I had been in Africa twenty-two years, 
and my wife sixteen years, my wife's health 
failed, and we were compelled to return to this 
country. Since then my own health has gone so 
that we are compelled to-remain here indefinitely. 
In 1906 Brother Lumbley, who had labored in 



The African Mission. 143 

Africa nearly twenty years, broke down in health, 
and returning to England with his wife, he sud- 
denly passed away. Mrs. Lumbley is still labor- 
ing in Africa trying to carry on the work she and 
her husband had been doing. In 1901 L. M. Duval 
and wife came to our work, and began work at 
Saki, a large town in the northwestern part of 
the country, where they are still working, and in 
conjunction with E. G. MacLean, a recent addition 
to our forces, are carrying on an industrial school. 
In 1905 Mr. and Mrs. Compere, of Arkansas, came 
to Africa and labored at Ogbomoso in the train- 
ing school, and did general mission work until 
Mrs. Compere's health failed and forced them to 
return to America in 1909. In 1907 Dr. George 
Green and Mrs. Green went to Ogbomoso, where 
they have given special attention to medical work. 
The latest addition to our work was Brother and 
Sister Ward, who returned with the Comperes in 
1908, and who worked in the training school at 
Ogbomoso. After a service of a little more than 
a year, Mrs. Ward's health failed, and while they 
were on their way to the United States, Ward 
was stricken with smallpox, and died in England. 
Besides the school and general mission work, 
the missionaries have always done a considerable 
amount of medical work as best they could, ac- 
cording to their limited training. W. M. Perry, 
who with his wife had to return after a little 
more than a year in Africa, gave chief attention 
to this work, for he had received some special 



144 Southern Baptist Foreign Missions. 

training. Dr. George Green, a thoroughly trained 
physician, has taken up this work in earnest, and 
there is great opportunity for it. 

We have at present, in Lagos, a church of about 
300 members under their own pastor, self-sup- 
porting and owning their own building. There is 
also a school under their control, but partly sup- 
ported by the mission. There are two other Bap- 
tist churches which grew out of our work. Lagos 
has a population of about seventy-five thousand. 
At Abeokuta, 150,000 population, we have three 
churches, all small, but far from each other in 
that large city, under native evangelists, all own- 
ing their own buildings, and partly self-support- 
ing. At Oyo, the capital of the Yoruba country, 
60,000 population, we have a church and two or 
three out-stations, with two or three evangelists, 
and missionaries, Pinnock and Mrs. Pinnock, in 
charge. At Ogbomoso, in the central north border 
of the Yoruba country, 75,000 population, we have 
three churches, a day school, a theological train- 
ing school, all with buildings. At Saki, 40,000 
inhabitants, in the northwest part of the country 
among the mountains, we have one church, a day 
school, and an industrial school. We have good 
mission houses for the missionaries to live in at 
all these places. We have churches under native 
evangelists at Ede, on the railroad, 40,000 in- 
habitants; at Ejigbo, 10,000 inhabitants, near 
Ogbomoso, and stations at a number of other 
villages and towns. 



The African Mission. 145 

Our policy is to raise up self-supporting and 
self-governing native churches, owning their own 
buildings, a trained native working force of or- 
dained preachers, evangelists, and teachers. We 
start churches to doing something for themselves 
as soon as possible, and follow a plan by which 
they assume an increasing part of their support 
each year. Missionaries we must always have, 
but their work must be to direct and teach native 
churches, train native workers, start new work, 
and have a general oversight over the churches, 
but not to lord it over them. The missionary is 
often of assistance to them against persecution 
and oppression. He has an influence over both 
white and black people which cannot well be dis- 
pensed with, and the encouragement his presence 
gives to the native Christians is very great. Also 
the medical work must be largely in his hands. 

In 1884 we had 166 members in the whole mis- 
sion. Now there are over 1,000 members. Then 
we had very few baptisms. Twenty-live baptisms 
in a year filled us with rapture. Now we often 
have over two hundred baptisms in a year. I 
remember that in 1887 there was but one baptism. 
Now, in addition to our own work, there are a 
good many Baptist churches in Lagos, Ibadan, and 
elsewhere, some under the fostering care of our 
Lagos church, and some under the fostering care 
of other Baptist churches in Lagos, but all self- 
supporting. There are four or five ordained 
preachers in and out of the mission, and thirty 

10 



146 Southern Baptist Foreign Missions. 

or more unordained evangelists. Our missionary 
force remains nearly the same with the passing 
years. The new missionaries only about make up 
for our losses. 

We are thankful for what has been accom- 
plished, but wish it might have been more. Our 
present success could not have been attained but 
for the foundation work done by faithful mis- 
sionaries who have long since gone to their re- 
ward, or have had to give up the work. 

"Don't give up Africa," said the sainted Nannie 
David, and every missionary before and since re- 
peats the plea. However, Africa may compare 
with other nations in importance, her people 
surely need the gospel, and need it badly. How- 
ever great the cost in life, health, and means, far 
greater than in most other countries. "Don't 
give up Africa." 

The African Mission, 

1. Missionaries — 

(1) Foreign, 11. 

(2) Native, 45. 

2. Church Statistics— 

(1) Churches, 21. 

(2) Members, 1,098. 

(3) Church buildings, 27. 

(4) Sunday schools, 22. 

(5) Sunday school scholars, 678. 

(6) Out-stations, 20. 



The African Mission, 147 

3. Schools — 

(1) Day schools, 6. 

(2) Industrial School at Saki. 

(3) Theological Training School at Ogbonioso, 20 

students. 

4. Medical — Dispensary and physician at Ogbomoso. 

5. General — 

(1) Work opened in Liberia, 1846; in Yoruba, 1850. 

(2) Residences for Missionaries owned by the Board, 7. 

(3) Nine self-supporting churches. 



CHAPTER VIII. 



THE ITALIAN MISSION. 

It seems to be the almost universal verdict of 
those who live in Italy that the Papacy has been 
"weighed in the balances and found wanting." 
Eomanism is incompatible with civil and religious 
liberty or with intellectual and material progress. 
Can an institution be divine which subverts the 
primitive doctrines of Christianity, bitterly perse- 
cutes His followers, substitutes human for divine 
authority, withholds the Word of God from mil- 
lions, enslaves the mind and conscience, sells 
pardon for sin, grants indulgences, worships im- 
ages and saints, teaches a corrupt system of mor- 
als, and opposes every free political and religious 
institution in the world? Moreover, if Baptist 
doctrines are needed in Protestant America and 
England, where there is an open Bible and free- 
dom of speech, what shall we say of Italy, where 
ignorance and superstition are denser, persecution 
stronger, and error more pernicious? 

The Gospel in Italy, 

Although dominated for centuries by a falsified 
form of Christianity, Italy has had many who 

(148) 



The Italian Mission. 



149 




vMfy 



150 Southern Baptist Foreign Missions. 

have gloriously upheld the truth against all obsta- 
cles. As we emerge from the darkness of the 
Middle Ages we see, here and there, lights shining 
in the spiritual gloom that enveloped the whole 
peninsula. Notable among them were Arnold 
of Brescia, Savonarola, the Duchess Eenata, Ver- 
gerio, the Marquis of Vico, Bernardo Occhino, 
Aonia Paleario, and Vittoria Colonna, whose 
deeds adorn the pages of church history and add 
luster to the otherwise shameful record of Italy's 
spiritual degeneracy. During the Eeformation, 
there were flourishing congregations of evangel- 
icals in Lucca, Modena, Florence, Genoa, Milan, 
Padua, and Turin. In Venice, the Bible and the 
writings of Luther and Melancthon were translated 
into Italian and freely circulated until thwarted 
by the Inquisition. Naples at one time had more 
than 1,000 Evangelicals from the best families, 
whose conversion was due to Juan Valdez, a high- 
born Spaniard and imperial secretary and cham- 
berlain, who retired to Naples where his remark- 
able spirituality and piety united to rare graces 
of mind and person, gathered an elect circle of 
Christians around him, afterward dispersed by the 
Inquisition. 

More recently, even before modern Italy was 
made, much was done toward "making Italians" 
by evangelizing them. To the Waldensians, more 
than to any other church, belongs the honor of 
leading in this work. They were not "Beform- 



The Italian Mission. 151 

ers before the Keformation," as some claim, but 
adopted the distinctive theology of the Beform- 
ers, especially that of Calvin. It is nevertheless 
true that by their efforts, not always successful, 
to extricate themselves from errors which in the 
lapse of centuries had arisen in the church and 
especially by their exhortations to a diligent 
study of the Bible, they became a shining light 
in a dark place, and thus prepared the way for 
those who, in the sixteenth century, labored to 
deliver their fellow countrymen from the power 
of their spiritual oppressors. The Waldensians, 
owing to their long existence and the adhesion 
to them of many French or Swiss protestant 
residents, are the most numerous body of Evan 
gelicals, having churches in every part of the 
peninsula. Besides, there are Methodists, Bap- 
tists, Wesleyans, and Plymouth brethren at work 
in Italy. The British and Foreign Bible Society 
and the Scotch Bible Society, the Y. M. C. A. and 
the Y. W. C. A., as well as the Salvation Army, 
contribute to the evangelization of the country. 
In Eome, especially, one sees many signs of the 
progress of the gospel. In 1870, the Evangelicals 
were not allowed to preach nor could a copy of 
the Bible be sold. Now there are between fifteen 
and twenty churches and preaching stations, two 
theological schools, and four newspapers, several 
schools for boys and girls, an orphanage, two 
printing presses, several book stores, colporteurs, 
Y. M. C. A. and Y. W. C. A. buildings, depot of 



152 Southern Baptist Foreign Missions. 

the British and Foreign Bible Society. Outside 
of the city there are many agencies for the promo- 
tion of the truth. The statistics for the Evangel- 
ical work (1897) twelve years ago, as given by Dr. 
Taylor, were the following : Waldensians, includ- 
ing their native protestants in the Waldensian 
Valleys, 20,000; the Free Church, 1,500; Meth- 
odist Episcopal, 1,100; Wesleyans, 1,400; Bap- 
tists, 1,100; and Old Catholics, about 500. Since 
that date till present (1909), all the denominations 
have made gains except the Free Church, which 
does not any longer exist. It died for lack of 
financial support, and has been absorbed by the 
two branches of the Methodist Church. All these 
bodies own church buildings in different cities of 
Italy, and some of them, especially the Methodists, 
are spending considerable sums of money erecting 
churches and schools. The churches are all small 
and composed of poor people, and of those with 
limited resources. There is not much prospect of 
self-support at present, though the principle is 
recognized. 

American Baptist Work. 

As early as 1850, the Foreign Mission Board 
directed its attention to the Roman Catholic popu- 
lations of Europe, but for lack of funds nothing 
definite was attempted. However, in 1870, the 
Board decided to establish a mission in either 
France or Italy. The taking of Rome by the 



The Italian Mission. 153 

Italians seemed to be a providential indication for 
our Board to begin work there. Dr. Cote, of the 
Y. M. C. A. of France, was chosen first missionary. 
He settled in Rome. With him were associated 
three Italian evangelists to assist in the work. In 
a short time churches were organized at Rome, 
Civita, Vecchia, Bologna, Torre Pellice, and 
Venice. 

Before giving detailed accounts of some of the 
churches a general statement will not be amiss. 
Like those of other denominations, they are gener- 
ally small, there not being any with more than one 
hundred members. For the most part we worship 
and evangelize in rented halls, as church build- 
ings here are costly and not easily obtained. The 
halls are not generally in the best streets, as 
Catholic proprietors will rarely rent them even 
at exorbitant rates for protestant services. Dur- 
ing the week, besides the Sunday school, there are 
usually four other services. The one on Sunday 
morning is devoted to the edification of the 
brethren; the other meetings are for the evan- 
gelization of Roman Catholics and unbelievers. 
In some places, a night is set apart for Bible study, 
when the pastor teaches doctrines and instructs 
the catechumens. To church services strangers 
come and go at pleasure. Many do not even sit 
down, and often someone contradicts what the 
preacher is saying. It becomes necessary, occa- 
sionally, to be protected by a policeman, who may 
be had on request. As may be imagined, our mem- 



154 Southern Baptist Foreign Missions. 

bers are poor, some very poor, and consequently 
they give little to church support, perhaps less 
than the same class in America, though they are 
ready to help one another in distress. The recent 
earthquake in Sicily and Calabria proved that 
Italians are generous and self-sacrificing. In all 
of our churches the members are required to pay 
all local expenses, except hall rent, and contribute 
besides to the general evangelization fund. The 
pastor is sometimes compelled to pay most of the 
local expenses himself, owing to the poverty of the 
church. His position is by no means easy, as 
many calls come to him for help from members and 
outsiders. The brethren are generally zealous. 
Sometimes house-to-house prayer-meetings are 
held to attract Eomanists who would not come to 
a Protestant hall. Tracts, portions of the Scrip- 
tures, and religious newspapers are widely used 
for the spread of the truth. In the smaller cities 
and villages, the pastor usually has one or more 
out-stations which he visits periodically for evan- 
gelizing purposes. Some of our best churches were 
founded in this way. At present (1909), we have 
thirty-five of these small churches and eighty-five 
out-stations to be found in every part of the penin- 
sula as well as in the islands of Sicily and Sar- 
dinia and in North Africa. There is also a small 
group of believers in Trieste, Austria, Home, 
Carpi, Naples, Boscoreale, and Miglionico have 
church buildings which put the work on a more 
solid basis. 



The Italian Mission. 155 

Eome was the first church organized. Dr. Cote 
constituted it in January, 1871, with eight 
members, all of whom were baptized, and before 
the year closed twelve others were added. Dr. 
Broadus was present at its organization, and was 
delighted with Italy as a mission field. He said 
that he would vehemently protest against any 
idea of abandoning it. Things moved on well 
apparently at first — too well. Italians entered 
the church without a clear knowledge of what 
conversion meant, and for low r er ends, many mis- 
taking political liberty and dislike of the priest 
for conversion; reaction and trouble set in, so 
that when Dr. Taylor came out, in 1873, these 
original members had disappeared, or disgraced 
themselves. The work had to be practically be- 
gun afresh. Afterward greater care was exer- 
cised in admitting new members, and a more 
genuine class of people drawn in. It even became 
necessary to refuse as candidates for baptism 
those who were without work to keep out im- 
posters. 

The purchase of a chapel put our work on a 
firmer footing. It cost much time, anxiety, and 
no small amount of money. Dr. Taylor was tor- 
mented by several lawsuits and endless harass- 
ment on the part of the neighboring Catholic 
landlords. When the chapel was opened it was 
referred to by the Catholic organs as an "infernal 
hall." The church now has sixty members which 



156 Southern Baptist Foreign Missions. 

would be a much larger number but for losses 
caused by emigration and persecution. 

Naples was taken over from the English Bap- 
tists in 1899. jU; the same time a small body of 
members and their hall were accepted from Count 
Papengouth, who had conducted an independent 
work and was leaving the city. These two Bap- 
tist churches in Naples united in 1900, and have 
since been one, though perfect peace has not al- 
ways reigned. The church's membership reaches 
almost one hundred. It has an outstation in the 
city where many outsiders are evangelized. The 
church building is owned by our mission. In the 
garden back of it is an ideal baptistry whose 
waters are often stirred by the zealous pastor, 
Signor Scalera. 

Tunis church has a very interesting history. 
Signor Barbera, a colporter of the British and 
Foreign Bible Society, has labored there for 
several years, not only for his society, but priv- 
ately to propagate Baptist views. He was emi- 
nently successful in leading many to Christ. An 
evangelist was sent there by Dr. Taylor, in 1900, 
who baptized nine converts, among whom was 
Signor Barbera. Owing to lack of funds this 
work was not prosecuted until 1904, when the 
writer visited the place and baptized twenty-one 
converts, after which a church was organized with 
Signor Barbera in charge. He is a man of won- 
derful energy, and a typical soul winner. His 
labors have been much blessed. The church now 



The Italian Mission. 157 

has eighty-one members, and is one of our most 
promising, and the work seems to be in a hopeful 
condition. Most of the members are able to con- 
tribute something toward local expenses, and 
there is quite a number of adherents. The city 
has an Italian population of 50,000, and owing 
to their distance from Italy and her priests they 
are freer to accept the gospel. 

Matera, a city in the Basilicata, has a flourish- 
ing church of eighty-six members. The pastor, 
Luigi Loporfido, a follower of Tolstoi, was con- 
verted with other companions and baptized by a 
neighboring pastor. They formerly belonged to a 
"league" for mutual protection. This work is an 
agricultural district among the peasants entirely. 
Not one in ten of the adults can read or write. 
A deposit of oil, grain, and flour is kept to sell to 
the poorer brethren who are thus insured against 
the monopolies of the richer proprietors. Their 
children have a night school taught by the pastor. 
The chapel was built by the church and pastor. 
The mission contributed less than |200 for furni- 
ture. 

Miglionico, in the same province, is one of our 
largest and best churches which has been served 
from its foundation by Sign or Carlo Piccinni, "a 
prophet in his own country." He was educated 
in the Free Church School at Florence, and after 
conversion to Baptist beliefs went at once to his 
own people to lead them to Christ. He was 
severely persecuted, and unusually successful. 



158 Southern Baptist Foreign Missions. 

The members contributed work, material, and 
money for a building, which was soon ready for 
use, but not until a harassing lawsuit instituted 
by the local priests had been gained by the church 
and pastor. There is a mutual assistance fund to 
help needy brethren. A night school and three 
outstations are under the care of this faithful 
pastor. The members are all more or less inde- 
pendent, owning their own little farms. This 
church, besides sustaining local expenses, helps 
in a material way toward propagating the gospel. 
The Milan church has some members who are 
quite generous. They have in the last few years 
spent several hundred dollars for an organ and 
church furniture, besides making regular con- 
tributions to the evangelization fund. The few 
brethren at Trieste, with the help of outsiders, 
have collected more than two hundred dollars for 
work in that city. There is a similar fund at 
Cagliari, in Sardinia. Ferrara, for two years, cul- 
tivated assiduously by Signor Luginbuhl, has 
borne excellent fruit. Fourteen were recently 
baptized, and ten others accepted as catechumens. 
In the neighboring town of Consandolo there is 
a Sunday school of 156 children, most of whom 
belong to Socialist families. The town is a Sodom 
in morals. The Gravina church has paid its hall 
rent for several years, but the burden falls on one 
family who have done much for the church. The 
pastor, through the influence of his wife, forfeits 
half of his salary for the benefit of the mission. 



The Italian Mission. 159 

At Boscotrecase a poor deacon has bought the 
organ and furniture with his own money. He 
preaches the gospel to all who enter his little 
shop. Noto, in Sicily, has a flourishing church, 
though only four years old. There are now thirty- 
three members and a goodly number of catechu- 
mens. Five were baptized a few days ago. Reg- 
gio has now 160 children in the Kindergarten 
held in a wooden building erected since the earth- 
quake. Material assistance is now given these 
poor wretches. The church at Messina has been 
temporarily blotted out, the surviving members 
being widely scattered. 

At the Southern Baptist Convention which met 
in 1901 at New Orleans, the Board was author- 
ized to establish a theological school in Rome. 
The Board sent out the writer to take charge of 
this school. It had long been Dr. Taylor's desire 
to see such a work started, and it was his pleasure 
to lead in its organization and do some effective 
teaching till his death. From the very beginning 
it has been the aim of the founders to insist on 
a high standard of work. The course of study is 
modeled, as far as possible, after that at Louis- 
ville, but some changes were necessary, owing to 
local conditions. The Bible is the foundation and 
center of our teaching which is expounded not 
only in Italian, but in Hebrew and Greek. The 
branches taught are historical, exegetical, sys- 
tematic, and practical theology. The full course 
is three years. Two years are given to Old and 



160 Southern Baptist Foreign Missions. 

New Testament, Church History, and Apologetics, 
while one year is devoted to other branches. The 
school from the beginning has attracted attention 
by its seriousness, and has won praise. Students 
of other denominations, notably Wesleyans, attend 
our theological school, which is now the largest in 
Italy, surpassing in numbers the Waldensian at 
Florence. Our professors compare well with any 
other school, being graduates of Eome, London, 
and Cambridge (England) Universities, and the 
Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. Our 
students usually come from the churches, but some 
come directly from Eomanism. There are at pres 
ent two ex-priests and two ex-friars among our 
students. Sometimes we get unworthy men who 
must be dismissed, but on the whole, they give sat- 
isfaction. Within a few years we trust we shall 
see good results of our work. At present, ex-stu- 
dents are pastors at Naples, Florence, Genoa, 
Consandolo, Carpi, Altamura, Gravina, Ave! lino, 
Avezzano, and Pescopagano — ten of our thirty-five 
churches are in their hands. 

As early as 1876, Dr. Taylor began the publica- 
tion of II Seminatore (the Tower), a monthly 
journal which contained articles on denomina- 
tional tenets, Baptist history and questions of 
church life, evangelization and other practical 
questions. It served to clear away many preju- 
dices, especially in the eyes of the Waldensians, 
who do not always view us with a friendly eye. 
This journal was succeeded by the Testimonio 




Church at Reggio Church in Naples 

SIG. G. FASULO. PASTOR, NOTO 

Theological School, Rome 



The Italian Mission. 161 

(The Witness), which appeared in 1884. It has 
since become the organ of the Union (of the Ameri- 
can and English Baptist Missions), and continues 
to be so. Lately it has become bi-monthly, and is 
entirely self-supporting. In connection with it, is 
published now a smaller sheet called II Seminatore 
(continuing the name of the old paper), which 
costs only one mill per copy and is widely circu- 
lated, having from 8,000 to 10,000 copies printed 
every two weeks. It is adapted to the simpler 
minded and poorer classes. It is also self-support- 
ing, and no evangelical paper in Italy has a wider 
circulation. 

Workers must be treated under two heads, for- 
eign and native. 

Dr. Cote, after two years of service, severed his 
connection with the Board, though from no charge 
affecting his moral character nor his capacity as 
a missionary. 

Dr. George B. Taylor and his wife deserve a 
more lengthy notice, owing to their long and inti- 
mate connection with the Mission. His appoint- 
ment to succeed Dr. Cote was made in March, 
1873. It was no easy task to quiet troubles in 
Borne, meet the peculiarly strong prejudices 
against a Baptist and a Southerner, train native 
preachers, organize undisciplined churches, foster 
work begun and press forward in new fields, and 
all under financial uncertainty when the Board 
was going through straits and stress. Dr. Taylor 
proved to be well adapted for the eminent place 
11 



162 Southern Baptist Foreign Missions. 

assigned him. While retaining to the last a 
youthful spirit of initiative and enterprise, he was 
aptly termed like the old English divine, Hooker, 
"the judicious Taylor," avoiding those headlong 
words and actions which in a field so delicate and 
complicated as Italy, take years for men of less 
supreme self-control to redeem and remedy. His 
wisdom, piety, administrative abilities, tact and 
learning were recognized by all. It may not be 
amiss to insert here the testimony of Dr. Augustus 
Strong, written in this year (1909) to one of his 
daughters. "I have just finished reading your 
father's life, and have been deeply moved by the 
story, and I cannot help telling you so. I have 
now ordered a copy for our Seminary library. 
Your father's life was a truly heroic one. He was 
a genuine missionary and a real disciple of Christ. 
It must be a great comfort to you to know that 
you were permitted to minister so lovingly to so 
noble a servant of our Lord." Dr. Taylor not only 
represented the University of Virginia at the 
800th centenary of the Bologna University, and 
represented the Baptists at the Waldensian Cen- 
tenary and on many other occasions, but also 
wrote a book of general interest on "Italy and the 
Italians," a manual in Italian on Systematic The- 
ology, innumerable tracts and articles for Italian 
and American papers, and when he died was at 
work on a book for the use of young Italian min- 
isters. Loved by everyone, irrespective of creed, 
he laid down his life, September 28, 1907, and his 



The Italian Mission. 163 

body rests in the beautiful Protestant cemetery in 
Koine by the side of his faithful wife, who went to 
her reward twenty -three years before his departure 
— March 7, 1884. She was beloved by all who 
came under the influence of her gracious Christian 
spirit. Many nationalities and creeds were among 
her friends. The eleven years of her life in Italy 
were full of care and sunny self-sacrifice, not only 
for her family, but for the struggling Mission. 

In 1880, Dr. John H. Eager and his wife were 
appointed missionaries to Italy. He remained in 
Eome as colleague to Dr. Taylor for ten years, and 
helped in many ways, learning the language unusu- 
ally well and gaining the affection and esteem of 
our Italian brethren. While Dr. Taylor was ab- 
sent in America for two years, he was left in charge 
of the work. In 1890 he and Mrs. Eager removed 
to Florence, where, with the help of a native evan- 
gelist, Signor Galassi, he built up one of our 
churches in connection with which he cultivated 
other fields. In 1896, he felt it his duty for the 
sake of his children's education and future, to 
leave Italy, and resign his connection with our 
Board. He and his excellent wife were sincerely 
missed by the little evangelical world in Italy, 
and he left a useful book on "Bomanism in Its 
Home," which missionaries to papal fields will do 
well to read. 

Kev. C. J. F. Anderson and wife came over in 
November, 1900, but remained only three and one- 
half years on the field. The writer, as mentioned 



164 Southern Baptist Foreign Missions. 

before, was appointed to the charge of the theolog- 
ical school in April, 1901, and since January, 1904, 
he has also had the general direction of the Mis- 
sion, but was ably assisted by Dr. Taylor until his 
death. 

Dr. Everette Gill and family came to Italy in 
1904, but owing to much ill-health in his family, 
due to malarial fever, he was compelled to return 
to America in 1907, leaving many sympathetic 
friends and a precious child's grave in Koine. 

Eev. J. P. Stewart and family came out in No- 
vember, 1908, and have ever since given themselves 
to the serious study of this really diff cult language. 
He is making progress in it, and hopes soon to be 
able to begin active service. They have made 
friends on all sides, and seem to be getting readily 
adjusted to the new order of things. May God 
make him and his a blessing to our work. 

A few words about our native ministry will now 
be opportune, though no detailed account of them 
will be given. 

Among the Italian evangelists who have served 
the Mission since its foundation, some have dis- 
tinguished themselves for piety, zeal, learning, and 
perseverance in the midst of discouragements and 
persecutions. The lack of a regular theological 
school, until recently, has rendered a thorough 
preparation for the ministry difficult. However, 
the evangelists deserve credit for what they have 
accomplished in the face of such tremendous obsta- 
cles. The history of some of the conversions and 



The Italian Mission. 165 

subsequent careers would be interesting, but space 
forbids their narration. Sig. Gaetano Fasulo, 
almost eighty years old, has founded seven 
churches in his long career as an evangelist, two of 
them while a Waldensian evangelist. Sig. Teubel, 
an ex-student, now pastor, speaks four languages 
well. He represented Italian Missions at the 
Berlin Baptist Congress last year. 

Prof. Henry Paschetto, who recently died, was 
the finest Semitic scholar among evangelicals in 
Italy. He left a Hebrew Grammar in manuscript. 
He was professor of Old Testament in our theolog- 
ical school and a man of rare integrity and purity 
of character. His son, Ludovico Paschetto, now 
a minister and professor in the theological school, 
won the prize of the Pontificial Archaeological 
Academy of Eome for his learned work entitled, 
"Storia e Monumenti di Ostia." The prize of a 
1,000 lire in gold and all the expenses of publica- 
tion was a bequest of Pope Leo XIII, and we 
learned from a reliable source that when the pres- 
ent pope heard that the award had gone to an 
evangelical minister he was much chagrined. 
Another minister, Sig. L. M. Galassi, a self-edu- 
cated man, is reputed to be the most popular 
tract writer in Italy. Prof. Giovanni Aebanasich, 
of Genoa, has translated the Gospel of Luke into 
the Sard dialect, and several hymns from English 
into Italian. One evangelist has distinguished 
himself as a historian and hymn-writer, while two 



166 Southern Baptist Foreign Missions. 

others are graduates of the University of Home, 
another of Milan, and a third of Florence. 



Special Difficulties of Evangelization in Italy. 

Why is it that Italy has thus far yielded little 
visible fruit? The result cannot be due to the 
policy pursued by the American missionaries in 
Italy, for the Baptists, in proportion to the means 
employed, have succeeded as well as the five other 
denominations. The causes of the slow progress 
may be found in local conditions, which will now 
be referred to, not mentioning all the causes that 
impede our progress, but only those that seem 
peculiar to Italy. All missionaries have to con- 
tend more or less with ignorance, superstition, in- 
difference, and persecution in its various forms, 
but it is doubtful if any mission suffers as much 
from persecution and atheistic socialism as Italy. 
Let us pass on to the consideration of these special 
difficulties. 

In the first place, Italy has been the home of 
the papacy for more than a thousand years. To 
every other nation it is a foreign power, but not so 
to the Italian. While thousands have lost interest 
in the Eoman Church as a religious institution, 
there are multitudes who defend it on purely 
national and patriotic grounds. No other nation 
has a St. Peter's or a Vatican, with its invaluable 
library and unrivalled art collection. These, with 
other considerations, make it doubly hard for the 



The Italian Mission. 167 

Italians to turn from a religion to which they 
have been bound for more than a thousand years. 
The fact that 200,000,000 people look to Eome for 
spiritual guidance and salvation is a matter of 
deep pride to the nation. 

Another cause of special difficulty is the exist- 
ence of great cathedrals and churches among us. 
With their altars of silver, gold, and precious 
stones, with paintings and sculptures by great 
masters, with magnificent music and everything 
that appeals to the love of the beautiful, they form 
a striking and almost shocking contrast to our 
modest and scantily furnished halls in undesirable 
quarters. Certainly no country has churches like 
St. Peter's and St. Paul's at Koine, nor like the 
cathedrals at Milan, Venice, Pisa, Siena, Orvieto, 
Perugia, Assisi, Florence, and Palermo. These 
have received and still receive thousands into 
their bosoms and have become for many a synonym 
for Christianity. And in considering this, it must 
be remembered that Latins are an aesthetic and 
materialistic race, far more affected by visible, 
tangible beauty than we are. The long undis- 
turbed existence of their beautiful churches is also 
an argument in their favor — an argument easily 
rebutted, it is true, by an appeal to the New Testa- 
ment. The Eeformation in the sixteenth century 
shook to the foundation in some countries, and in 
others almost destroyed the Eoman Church, but 
Italy felt very slightly that mighty intellectual 
and religious movement. So, many have come to 



168 Southern Baptist Foreign Missions. 

look upon the Mother Church as enduring as the 
Colisseum or Eome itself. 

Emigration represents for us another great ob- 
stacle. About 500,000 Italians leave the mother 
country every year, most of whom go to America, 
the poor man's paradise. Not long before his 
death, Prime Minister Zanardelli, on visiting a 
town in the Basilicata, was welcomed by the mayor 
with the following words : "Honorable Zanardelli, 
I welcome you in the name of the 5,000 inhabitants 
of our town, 2,000 of whom are in America, and 
the other 3,000 preparing to go." This is, of 
course, an exaggerated case, but there are towns 
and communities which have lost almost half their 
population. The result of this yearly loss tells 
fearfully on our statistics. It is with great diffi- 
culty that net gains are made. A church in Mas- 
sachusetts, U. S. A., was founded by members from 
our Calitri Church, in the Province of Avellino. 
The Miglionico church has twenty-seven members 
in America. Gravina loses five or six every year, 
while the church at Tunis suffers even more. The 
extreme poverty of the brethren and the loss con- 
stantly sustained by emigration renders the prob- 
lem of self-support in Italy quite discouraging. 

There is also the lack of a firm, solid foundation 
on which to build a Christian character which is, 
to a large extent, wanting in Italy. To use a 
vulgar expression, "the bottom has been knocked 
out" of the Italian character. This is no fault of 
the people, for they have some shining virtues 



The Italian Mission. 169 

which other nations would do well to imitate, but 
it is a result of the system of religion to which 
they have been accustomed for long centuries. 
Those ideas of truth and integrity with which 
Anglo-Saxons are almost born — the heinousness 
and sin of a lie — are almost unrecognized by the 
average individual. The question as to whether a 
lie is right or wrong depends with them entirely 
on the point whether it will be advantageous or 
not. The virtues of chastity and conjugal fidelity 
are rare in the towns, and especially among men of 
the upper and middle class. It is rare that men 
are faithful to their marriage vows, and how can 
it be otherwise when the nation has had such an 
awful example set before them by their priesthood, 
the religious teachers of the nation ? 

Immersion constitutes a great difficulty. Infant 
baptism is an element of great power in the Romish 
Church. The child's name is indissolubly asso- 
ciated with it, and by it he is made a Christian. 
It is so instilled into the Italian mind that his 
christening is what makes the child differ from the 
lower order of creatures, that if you ask an Italian 
the question, which to an Anglo-Saxon is serious 
and searching, "Are you a Christian?" he replies 
lightly, "The devil ! of course I am ; do you take 
me for a dog?" It is no easy matter to persuade 
some of our converts that they have never been 
properly baptized nor are others impressed with 
its importance. There is a strong prejudice 
among the people against cold water. Our bap- 



170 Southern Baptist Foreign Missions. 

tisms are usually performed in the milder 
months, and the water is usually tempered, accord- 
ing to the desire of the candidate. The additions 
to our churches would be doubled each year if 
members could be accepted without immersion. 

Hopes and Encouragements. 

There are at least three things that encourage us 
to go forward in the work into which we were 
evidently led by Providence. In the first place, 
must be mentioned the work already accomplished. 
Forty-five years ago there were no Baptists nor 
Baptist work in Italy. Now there are sixty 
churches, more than one hundred out-stations, 
forty-seven evangelists, eight colporters, 1,615 
members, 1,694 Sunday school scholars, 98 Sunday 
school teachers, a theological school with five pro- 
fessors and eighteen students, two newspapers, 
several medical dispensaries, an orphanage, several 
day schools, kindergartens, night schools, Bible 
women, and fourteen houses of worship (these 
figures include the English Baptists^ who have 
fewer churches and fewer communicants than our 
Mission has). 

The "modernist movement," while fraught with 
dangers to "orthodoxy," will doubtless prove to 
be one of our allies against the common adversary. 
The "modernists" may be roughly divided into 
three classes. Some, like Loisy, have wandered 
away from orthodoxy in the criticism and inter- 



The Italian Mission. 171 

pretation of the Bible. Others, like the famous 
ex-priest, Don Komola Murri, demand liberty of 
action in politics and refuse longer to be minions 
of the clerical party, while there is a third class 
that desires radical reforms in both dogma and 
morals. All these have been the object of severe 
criticism and repressive measures on the part of 
Pius X, but many of them refuse to submit. They 
have even begun in the "modernist" propaganda 
the publication of tracts, newspapers, and several 
valuable reviews, which circulate freely among the 
priesthood, especially the student class. The 
most recent critical works of German, English 
and American Protestants on modern Biblical 
thought are on sale in the leading bookstores of 
Eome. Will the Pope be able to stop this rising 
tide? We hope not. Baptists who have no fear 
of truth, from whatever source it may come, have 
much to gain and little to lose in this struggle 
between the Pope and his subordinates. 

The strategic position of our field is another 
ground for encouragement. The Japanese spent 
millions of money and thousands of lives to take 
Port Arthur, Kussia's stronghold in the East, but 
it proved to be a wise investment, as the fortunes 
of the war largely depended on that one place. 
The same may be said of Italy. It is the Port 
Arthur of Koman Catholicism. If we can take it, 
which will require time, money, and workers, the 
victory will be won more easily elsewhere. If 
Luther and the Keformers had taken Eome and 



172 Southern Baptist Foreign Missions. 

Italy, the work of the Eeformation would have 
been complete. The importance of saving Italy 
cannot be overestimated. No city since the fall 
of Jerusalem has influenced the religious world so 
much as Eome has, and she still continues to do 
so. From her went forth the gospel in the early 
Christian centuries to every part of Europe, and 
even before Paul visited the "Eternal City," the 
Eoman Christians' faith was spoken of throughout 
the world. Today millions from every country 
look to Eome for salvation from sin, but what a 
contrast between the Christian influence which 
proceeded from Eome in Paul's day and that 
which emanates from the Vatican today ! Let us, 
therefore, evangelize the Italians in their home 
that they may carry the good seed of the Kingdom 
into other countries. It would also seem that the 
preaching of a pure gospel in Italy must modify 
the Papacy itself, so far as the doctrine of infalli- 
bility will permit. The Catholic Church has 
already established Sunday schools, adopting 
methods from American and English Protestants. 
Almanacs for family and popular reading have 
not only taken leaves from our own publications, 
but have imitated the adornments of cover and 
title page. The Saint Jerome Society at Eome 
has issued a popular translation of the Gospels 
and Acts, which is circulated freely. Even the 
Latin Bible is being revised. This is done in order 
to imitate the work of the British and Foreign 
Bible Society. May not these new methods 



The Italian Mission. 173 



adopted by the Papacy be attributed to the subtle 
change in the religious atmosphere of Italy, since 
Protestant Missions have been planted in her 
midst? 

The Italian Mission. 

1. Missionaries — 

(1) Foreign, 4. 

(2) Native, 36. 

2. Fields— 

(1) Northern Italy — 13 churches, 267 members, 

(2) Central Italy — 1 church, 58 members. 

(3) Southern Italy — 15 churches, 468 members. 

(4) Sicily — 3 churches, 59 members. 

(5) Sardinia — 2 churches, 40 members. 

(6) North Africa — 1 church, 83 members. 

3. Church Statistics — 

(1) Churches, 34. 

(2) Church buildings, 5. 

(3) Members, 993. 

(4) Out-stations, 80. 

(5) Sunday schools, 32. 

(6) Sunday school scholars, 744. 

4. Schools — 

(1) Day schools, 3, 

(2) Theological Seminary at Rome. 

5. "Ill Testimonio" (monthly paper). 

6. Work opened 1870. 



CHAPTER IX. 



THE BRAZILIAN MISSION. 

The opportunities for mission work in Brazil 
are vast. The country itself is immense. It is 
useless to compare Brazil with other countries — 
it is incomparable. Travel for days, for weeks, 
for months within it, and yet its limits are not 
touched. Its people are great, both in numbers 
and possibilities. Thousands of Germans, Ital- 
ians, Spaniards, Syrians, Portuguese, and British 
are entering her gates and forming with the Bra- 
zilian native a new race, a new nation. This 
nation is destined to play a large part in the 
future councils of the nations. What shall her 
influence be? We believe that her future attitude 
depends more upon the gospel of the Son of God 
than anything else. Another item in the count is 
that the Boman Church is unequal to the task of 
giving the gospel to these people. After the best 
has been said for her, the fact remains that she has 
subjugated a noble nation to the evil effects of 
idolatry and the practices of astute and often im- 
moral priests. Idolatry always debases a nation 
for misery and ruin follows in its wake. Instead 
of crosses, Brazil needs the preaching of the Cross, 
which is the power of God unto salvation. 

(174) 



The Brazilian Mission. 



175 




176 Southern Baptist Foreign Missions. 
Foundation Work. 

In 1881, Mr. and Mrs. W. B. Bagby, of Texas, 
arrived in Brazil. In the following year they 
were joined by Mr. and Mrs. Z. 0. Taylor, from the 
same State. After a year, both couples were able 
to make themselves sufficiently understood to 
enter upon the great work of preaching the Glad 
Tidings. Those who have had dealings with Eome 
and with its intolerant priesthood will be able to 
form some little idea of what this meant. To this 
day it is no child's play, but what must it have 
been in those days before the ground was broken ! 

The wisdom of choosing Bahia, the seat of the 
Boman hierarchy in this country, and later Bio 
de Janeiro, the seat of the central government, 
cannot be doubted. In this our men acted like 
statesmen, realizing, as they did, the necessity of 
establishing strong bases in the large centers 
before extending their operations. They pursued 
this policy, undaunted by opposition, until a 
quarter of a century having barely passed, they 
have both had the joy of seeing their labors 
crowned with success and the pathway then indi- 
cated to them demonstrated to have been the 
choice of God. Today both Bahia and Bio de 
Janeiro are important centers of the work, the 
former having five churches, with over five hun- 
dred members, in addition to the churches in the 
surrounding country, whereas the church was 
founded in 1882 with five members! The latter 



The Brazilian Mission. Ill 

place, in which a church was organized in 1884 
with four members, now has four strong churches, 
with 500 to 600 members, besides the extensions 
all over the country round about. 

In all places, much depends upon the quality of 
the material gathered in during the early years of 
the work. It is significant that in the two places 
mentioned, the firstfruits to Christ were men and 
women of high spiritual discernment. Of course, 
there were exceptions, tares amidst the wheat, but 
it seems that the Lord had a good many who had 
never bowed the knee to Baal, and who were long- 
ing for something higher and holier. In Bahia, 
one of the first to join was the ex-priest, Teixeira 
de Albuquerque, who for some time continued as 
the mouthpiece of the work, editing a paper and 
publishing tracts and leaflets, one of which, 
"Three Eeasons Why I Left the Church of Borne," 
has been instrumental in saving hundreds if not 
thousands of souls. We may say of him that, 
"He being dead, yet speaketh." Then there was 
a Joao Baptista, a courageous and faithful evan- 
gelist, who, though passing through great trials, 
temptations and persecutions, remained faithful 
unto death. He was instrumental in bringing 
many souls out of darkness into God's marvelous 
light, and in spreading the news far and wide 
over the State of Bahia as well as over some of the 
neighboring States. We may also mention one, 
Francisco Borges, a faithful, intelligent, and con- 
secrated colporteur, who, while his health held 

12 



178 Southern Baptist Foreign Missions. 

out, did valiant service for the Lord. He had a 
remarkable voice for singing, and by this means 
drew many into the Kingdom. 

The first converts in Rio were more or less of 
the same type. One day there entered into the 
hall a young man, at first troubled by the gospel, 
and then entering into its wonderful peace, mak- 
ing soon afterwards public confession of his faith. 
He then called his fellow clerk in the office where 
he was employed, and he, too, accepted Christ as 
his Saviour and Lord. A third was brought in 
by his laundress, a consecrated church member, 
who had no rest until she saw him at the feet of 
Jesus. Today the first is the consecrated pastor 
of the First Baptist Church in Rio, the Rev. F. F. 
Soren, who has done and is doing a noble work 
for the Master in the great capital of Brazil ; the 
second is Brother Theodoro R. Teixeira, our 
Brother Entzminger's right-hand man in the Pub- 
lication Department; and the third is Brother 
Thomas L. Costa, one of the mainstays of the 
cause in Brazil, a layman full of power and the 
Holy Ghost. 

Not content with the proclamation of the gos- 
pel, both our missionaries began to multiply their 
efforts in numerous ways. In Rio, Brother Bagby 
began publishing an eight-page monthly paper 
that lasted for over a year. About the same 
time, a few excellent tracts were issued. Mean- 
while, Z. C. Taylor secured a little press, and 
with the help of Mrs. Osborn, of the "Baptist 



The Brazilian Mission. 179 

Basket/' furnished it with a few boxes of type 
and began to fill the land with tracts and papers. 
About the same time, Z. C. Taylor translated Dr. 
Ford's Short Baptist History, adding to it a trans- 
lation of the Philadelphia "Declaration of Faith/' 
and a short statement as to the mode of governing 
Baptist churches. We have no doubt that to this 
book the cause in Brazil owes a great deal of its 
present state and progress. It is still regarded 
as a standard manual all over Brazil. Besides 
this book, brother Taylor published a monthly 
paper called The Echo of Truth. About that time, 
also, he managed to buy from the Eoman hierarchy 
the old Jesuit prison, turning it into a center for 
gospel preaching. Situated in the very heart of 
the city, it has done, and is doing, splendid service 
for the cause of Christ in the midst of 300,000 
souls. 

Looking back over the past, we who came later 
to the field and seek to build upon the foundation 
already laid, realize that the work was well done. 
Both missionary couples did their best. We, the 
younger ones, cannot but admire the veterans who 
have gone before us, preparing the way. We 
praise God for men and women such as our first 
two missionaries and their wives. 

How the Work Progressed. 

It was not long before Brother Taylor was 
pushing out into the interior. At times, a family 



180 Southern Baptist Foreign Missions. 

would move into a neighboring city or village, 
and the missionary would then follow up the 
testimony given by that family, not only to cheer 
the little group of believers, but also to spread 
still further the "Good News." At times, a tract 
or a gospel would fall into the hands of a person 
in the interior, and upon a request for more light 
and instruction, the missionary would start off 
upon a visit to that district, sometimes finding on 
his arrival whole families or groups ready to "hear 
the Word of God." Thus the light of the gospel 
penetrated into the interior of the State of Bahia, 
the great plateau land of the Sao Francisco Eiver 
and into the adjacent States of Alagoas, Pernam- 
buco, and Espirito Santo. Space does not permit 
of our narrating many incidents connected with 
the opening of the various stations. One or two 
will serve as examples for the rest. 

At the invitation of two gentlemen who had 
found our address on a tract that had fallen into 
their hands, we were speeding along the railroad 
to a place called Ama. This w r as in 1892. On the 
way thither, every book and tract had been either 
sold or given away. There remained but one 
Bible that we were keeping for use upon our 
arrival. A young man, seated in another com- 
partment, attracted our attention, and w r e felt 
moved to offer him this Bible, which he reluctantly 
bought at half the usual price. That night he was 
present at the place where we preached, and, for 
the first time, heard the truth about the blood of 



The Brazilian Mission. 181 

Jesus Christ that cleanses from all sin. The fol- 
lowing day he continued his journey to his home, 
and there gave the Bible to his brother, explaining 
what had happened. That brother, touched by 
the Spirit of God, read the Bible, destroyed his 
idols, and sacrificing all, began to preach and to 
teach to his own people the things he had learned. 
He was persecuted, hated, and calumniated; his 
own people did all they could to do away with him, 
including the brother who had given him the 
Bible. But far from being turned aside, he con- 
tinued firm in the faith, and saw his faithfulness 
crowned with success. Today, as a result of that 
one Bible, and the efforts of that self-sacrificing 
and faithful brother, there are in that district 
alone, twelve or more organized churches, and 
perhaps as many as one hundred preaching places. 
The work is spreading rapidly, to the glory of our 
Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. 

The work in the State of Alagoas began through 
the instrumentality of the ex-priest, Teixeira de 
Albuquerque. Anxious to preach to his own 
people, and especially to those whom he had for- 
merly led into idolatry and sin, he went on a 
preaching tour among them. The Lord blessed his 
efforts, and soon his relatives and friends em- 
braced the gospel and were ready to follow Jesus. 
A missionary was called for, who gladly went, 
finding a number of people ready to follow 
the Lord in baptism and be organized into a 
church. The work has developed remarkably, 



182 Southern Baptist Foreign Missions. 

passing through various stages of progress and 
today stands firm in unity and peace. After 
Brother Taylor's visit, the work was carried on by 
Brothers Entzminger and J. E. Hamilton. At 
present, this work is under the care of Brother 
Pettigrew. Besides a stron church at Macieo, 
the capital, they have a good work in the cities of 
Pilar, Atalaia, Bio Largo, and Penedo, this last 
place being the key to the S. Francisco valley. 

A convert from the Alagoas field moved to Per- 
nambuco, preached the Word, gathered a group of 
believers around him, who soon called for the 
missionary to baptize and organize them into a 
church. Brother Taylor hastened to answer the 
call, and, accomplishing the work, returned, leav- 
ing a native brother in charge. This work, on 
account of the lack of spiritual culture and atten- 
tion, was disbanded, and when, in 1892, Brother 
Entzminger moved to that city, it was organized 
anew with twelve believers who had remained 
faithful. Since that time the work has grown 
steadily. In 1900, Brother Entzminger, on 
account of his wife's health, had to move to the 
South, and Brother Ginsburg was asked to take up 
the work, especially as the church was then passing 
through a crisis of persecution. In June, 1900, 
we moved into Pernambuco. We gave ourselves 
to the building of the First Church. With the 
money Mrs. Entzminger had raised, through the 
ladies of South Carolina, in memory of her father, 
Dr. Griffith; and in Pernambuco, through the 



The Brazilian Mission. 183 

ladies' society, we bought a splendid plot of ground 
in the heart of the city. We began to build with 
money raised almost entirely on the spot, together 
with a little from a few other churches in Brazil. 
The First Baptist Church building in Pernambuco 
is the largest gospel preaching place in the city, 
and though not yet complete, is certainly the best 
one in town. Its membership is nearly 400 strong. 
It is self-supporting, and has no doubt the best 
Sunday school in Brazil. While working up the 
First Church, the suburbs were not neglected, and 
today there are four other churches in the capital. 
All over the interior the work is progressing. In 
1902 Mr. and Mrs. Cannada arrived, and after 
overcoming the difficulties of the language, gave 
themselves with marvelous success to the building 
up of the boys' school and theological class which, 
just now, under the care of Brothers Muirhead and 
Hamilton, are doing excellent work, not merely 
educating the sons of some of the best families in 
the state, but also preparing a splendid staff of 
ministers for the evangelizing of the great and 
neglected North of Brazil. 

From Pernambuco, the work spread further 
North, into the Amazon region. In 1891 Brother 
Nelson, a self-supporting missionary, arrived in 
Para, and in 1893 his bride joined him, they being 
married at the American consulate. In 1897 we 
obtained a few months vacation, and instead of 
going south, answered Brother Nelson's earnest 
appeal to give them* a visit in the North on the 



184 



Southern Baptist Foreign Missions. 



equator. We shall never forget those ten days; 
the hall, with kerosene boxes for seats ; the room 
beyond, divided into three parts — one corner, the 
visitor's sleeping place; another, the dining 
place, and another, the kitchen. No wonder Mrs. 
Nelson had the yellow fever twice. But what 
filled us with joy was to see the enthusiasm of the 
young people and the young converts. On Febru- 
ary 2nd, the young converts were baptized, and a 
church was organized. Brother Nelson was 
chosen pastor, and a few weeks afterward, in Per- 
nambuco, with Brother Entzmingers help, was 
separated to the pastorate of the First Baptist 
Church in the great Amazon valley. 

What the Lord has accomplished ever since 
through the instrumentality of Brother Nelson, as 
well as through the precious though very short 
stay of J. E. Hamilton, it is impossible to relate in 
the space at our disposal. Brother Nelson, ever 
pushing forward, soon organized a work in 
Manaos, capital of the State of Amazonas, from 
whence the gospel is rapidly spreading into the 
immense unexplored territories of the interior. 
From the Amazon, some families moved into the 
States of Maranhao, Ceara, and Piauhy, and 
Brother Nelson, faithful to his flock, followed 
these families and organized churches in all these 
places. Still the work is spreading, and if Brother 
Nelson only had sufficient helpers, how this region 
might be prepared for Christ and his truth ! 

From Bahia the work also spread to the South. 



The Brazilian Mission. 185 

Calls began to come to Brother Taylor to visit 
that field. It was not until 1903 that a worker 
was able to go down to this district and organize 
a church. A year later, Mr. and Mrs. Reno ar- 
rived, making Victoria their headquarters. They 
have worked faithfully and have accomplished 
much in spite of many difficulties. Brother Reno 
is untiring in his efforts, and is blessed with an 
excellent partner in Mrs. Reno, the latter proving 
of the greatest help to him personally and also to 
the outside work. From Victoria, the work has 
spread into the interior and along the coast, 
churches springing up in the wake of the glorious 
gospel all over that State. 

As soon as the work in Rio was more or less 
established, the missionaries began to cast around 
for further openings, and these were by no means 
lacking. 

A vast and immensely rich state, connected 
with Rio by one of the best railroads in Brazil, 
lay northwest of them. Before long a work was 
inaugurated and a church organized in Juiz de 
Fora, one of the most important cities of that 
state. Here Brothers Daniel, Soper, Downing, 
S. J. Porter, and J. J. Taylor labored. The two 
first named afterward moved to Campos. Brother 
Porter, who arrived in Brazil in 1893 and went to 
Juiz de Fora to get hold of the Portuguese lan- 
guage, got hold of the people as well as the lan- 
guage. When Brother J. J. Taylor (who, on 
account of the dread yellow fever, exchanged 



186 Southern Baptist Foreign Missions. 

fields with Brother Porter), took over the work, 
he found a strong little church and about fifteen 
converts ready for baptism. The work was pros- 
pering, but local conditions obliged them to move 
to Bello Horizonte, the new capital of the state, 
where, with the help of Misses Stenger and Wil- 
cox, he established a school. Unfortunately the 
prosperity of the city did not last, having been 
artificially boomed. With the decline of the city 
the work also declined, and the missionaries 
moved to Sao Paulo. There is a great door open 
for the gospel in this state. There is still a 
small, struggling group of believers in Bello Hori- 
zonte, and a few churches in the northeastern 
corner belonging to the Victoria and Campos mis- 
sions. But the great opportunity for the moment 
lies up on the vast coal and mining highlands, 
near the headquarters of the Sao Francisco. 

The city of Campos, situated in the northeastern 
part of the State of Kio, is called the Queen of the 
Parahyba do Sul Kiver, and is the most important 
city in that state, even more so than Mchteroy, 
the state capital. In 1891 Mr. Bagby visited the 
place, preached the gospel, baptized believers, 
organized a church, rented and furnished a hall, 
leaving a native helper to carry on the good work 
thus started. From the very beginning the work 
was a success. Brethren Soper and Downing 
resolved to move their headquarters from Juiz de 
Fora to Campos, and during the two years spent 
there laid firm foundations. Sickness obliged 



The Brazilian Mission. 187 

Brother Soper to leave for England, where he soon 
passed into the more immediate presence of his 
Master. Soon after, the ill health of Mrs. Down- 
ing obliged the Downings also to return home, 
leaving the work in the hands of the native helper. 
In 1893 the Naval Eevolution broke out in Kio, 
obliging Mr. and Mrs. Ginsburg, who were then 
stationed in Nichteroy, to move to Campos. Car- 
rying out our usual plan of establishing a strong 
base, we first fortified Campos, the strategic point 
of the mission field, where a splendid plot of 
ground was bought, right opposite the market, 
and a commodious and comfortable building was 
erected. Here also Mrs. Ginsburg started a day 
school, which lack of help obliged her to abandon. 
Here, also, our Baptist Publication House was 
established, and the Boas Novas (Good News) 
was published for over six years. 

From Campos, we launched out to S. Fidelis, 
rented a hall and began preaching, being subse- 
quently arrested on a trumped-up charge and sent 
to prison in Mchteroy. Gaining our release, we 
returned to the place, and organized a church with 
four members. Soon the cause of Christ began to 
spread, and it today is one of the most prosperous 
districts in the Campos Mission. 

After organizing the work in S. Fidelis, we 
turned to the next most important center, Macah6, 
where we had to fight for every inch of ground, the 
priest and his superstitious followers uniting with 
the aristocrats and political leaders, who did not 



188 Southern Baptist Foreign Missions. 

deem it beneath them to publish the most atro- 
cious falsehoods about the work and the workers. 
But the Lord prevailed, and today not merely the 
city, but the whole district is permeated with the 
faithful followers of the Lamb. 

Before leaving for Pernambuco, we were just 
beginning to work up the Friburgo district, where 
the Lord has so remarkably blessed the labors of 
Brother Crosland. In 1902 Brother Dunstan 
arrived and took charge of the field, which was 
then passing through great difficulties, but out of 
which the work issued, purified and stronger than 
ever. When, in 1905, Brother Crosland joined 
this Mission, he was able to lead on the work to a 
wonderful degree of prosperity. Today the 
Campos Mission is not only very prosperous, but 
almost entirely self-supporting. 

Unable to bear the great heat of the lowlands 
of Bio, Mr. Bagby was forced to move further 
South and higher up into the mountains. He 
finally decided on settling — or rather on re- 
settling — in Sao Paulo, wiiere, in 1881, he had 
first gone to learn the language and preach to the 
American Colony. With Mr. Bagby went Mr. 
and Mrs. J. J. Taylor, the Misses Stenger and Wil- 
cox, who gave up their work in Minas Geraes, and 
later on, Dr. J. L. Downing and Mr. A. B. Deter. 
The work began splendidly and has progressed 
ever since in all departments. From the capital, 
the work has spread into the interior, where, in 
spite of bitter opposition, it is growing and devel- 



The Brazilian Mission. 189 

oping. One great element of help is the Stundist 
immigration — right strong Eussian Baptists who, 
having been through the fires of persecution before, 
have learned the secret of continuance. It does 
one good to hear them sing in their deep, well- 
trained voices. They are a great power for right 
eousness in this land of open sin and shame, and 
the Sao Paulo Mission, in keeping a hold on them, 
is doing a great service to Christ in Brazil. 

There are hundreds of Baptists — Germans, Bus- 
sians, and Brazilians — in the states to the south 
of Sao Paulo. Eepeated petitions have reached 
us, begging us to go there to organize churches, 
and baptize converts, but lack of time, lack of 
means, and above all, lack of men to look after the 
churches once organized, has prevented us from 
doing so. Something ought to be done, and that 
soon. Let us pray that the Lord will send the 
man for that most important field. 

Solidifying the Work. 

After laying the foundation, the next step is the 
building up of the converts. Fortunately, the 
missionaries laboring in Brazil, though each one 
is doing his utmost to develop the particular part 
of the field entrusted to his care, will readily com- 
bine for work that affects the whole mission field. 
With this spirit prevailing, our cause is marching- 
forward in a unity and strength upheld by the 
Spirit of God. 



190 Southern Baptist Foreign Missions. 

It was this Spirit that brought about our first 
General Convention in Bahia, in June, 1907, just 
twenty-five years after the organization of the 
first Brazilian Baptist church. It was a glorious 
and memorable scene when, on June 24, 1907, 
nearly all the missionaries in Brazil presented 
themselves in the large hall of the First Baptist 
church, the former Jesuit prison, and publicly 
pledged themselves to stand by the general Bap- 
tist cause in Brazil, signing, together with the 
native pastors and representatives from nearly the 
whole field, the constitution of the Brazilian Bap* 
tist Convention, which is almost a literal trans- 
lation of the one adopted by the Southern Baptist 
Convention. Of course, we are still struggling, 
still learning. We are not yet perfect, and fric- 
tions will crop out here and there, but we are 
moving forward slowly but steadily, to a more 
perfect understanding of the will of God and the 
work of the Master whom we love and serve. The 
following are a few of the branches that we are 
seeking to develop in Brazil : 

The schools form our first and greatest problem. 
A thoroughly equipped academy for every impor- 
tant mission center, and a good school attached to 
every church in Brazil, are our ambitions. This 
is slow, hard work, needing patience and an unlim- 
ited supply of tact, but this is being gradually 
accomplished. 

The school in Bahia has done a great work, 
and is still carrying out the purpose for 



The Brazilian Mission. 191 

which it was established by Mrs. Z. C. Taylor, 
who, having devoted her life to the work, is now 
forced, on account of ill-health, to give up. To 
fully realize this purpose a strong staff of efficient 
teachers should be sent out at once. The oppor- 
tunity is unique in this mission field. 

In Pernambuco the school is a power for good 
and a great blessing to the cause, reaching those 
that it would have been impossible to touch by 
the usual evangelistic methods. Miss Voorheis 
not only gains the hearts of the little ones and 
leads them to Jesus, but also the confidence of the 
families whom she visits and to whom she has 
often taken the message of light and life in her 
own sweet, gentle way. Brother Hamilton is 
training a band of young men, whose ministry 
will tell for time and for eternity. 

In Sao Paulo, Mrs. Bagby is accomplishing a 
great work in her school, which is drawing hun- 
dreds of students from all over the state, and the 
Misses Boxy and Grove are training kindergarten 
teachers that will fill a gap of long standing in 
our work* 

A new school was recently opened, in Friburgo, 
and we feel sure that it will be a blessing to the 
great Campos Mission. 

One school, however, upon which our hopes are 
centered more than any other is the Bio de Janeiro 
Baptist College and Seminary. It is under the 
able direction of Brother Shepard, whose whole 
life and being are consecrated to the work of build- 



192 Southern Baptist Foreign Missions. 

ing up a first-class high school and seminary for 
Brazil. It is a big undertaking, and will need all 
the endurance and patience imaginable; but we 
believe that Shepard is the man for this particular 
work, and that he will see it through. From that 
institution we hope to supply the greatly felt need 
of preachers, teachers, lawyers, and doctors. Oh 
for a body of men that will sway the country for 
Christ ! For this we work and sacrifice ourselves 
on behalf of our institution in Eio de Janeiro. 

Brother Entzminger moved to Bio and began 
the publication of the Journal Baptist a on Jan- 
uary 10, 1900. He has proved himself to be an 
able writer and has served the cause in this capac- 
ity in a way that few could have done. He is in 
great need of a business manager to look after the 
business side of this work. Here is a wonderful 
opportunity for a good man. There is the Sunday 
school literature that, well developed, ought to be 
a source of considerable income; there is the 
"Cantor Christao," our Baptist humnbook, that 
well utilized ought to bring in great results. Our 
B. Y. P. U. organizations, our colleges, our sem- 
inaries, our mission Boards; our churches need 
tracts and other printed matter. Oh, what an 
opportunity to build up an enterprise that will 
be a powerful lever in the work of the Lord. 

We believe in missionary churches, and from 
the start we emphasize to the young converts the 
duty of giving the gospel to others. For more 
effective work, the Convention appointed Home 











Seabra St. Baptist Church, Bahia, Brazil Baptist Church at Rosario, Argentina 

First Baptist Churgh, Pernambuco. Brazil 

Rio Baptist College and Seminary 



The Brazilian Mission. 193 

and Foreign Mission Boards. Both of these are 
already at work ; the former in the extreme North, 
supplying a man for the newly opened territory, 
the Acre district, where he is accomplishing splen- 
did results. The latter is supporting two men in 
Chili and helping the cause in Portugal. Most 
churches contribute regularly and gladly to both 
Boards at the rate of about thirty cents a year 
per member. Of course, these are only beginnings, 
but we are working with an eye to the future, 
when we hope that the natives will take charge 
of this work themselves. 

The Outlook. 

There are many signs of encouragement. 
Slowly but surely the God-ordained principles of 
the separation of the church from the State and 
other human organizations; the supreme author- 
ity of the Holy Scriptures; the regeneration of 
the soul before church membership, etc., are be- 
coming better known and accepted. As these 
principles are being drilled into the hearts and 
minds of the people, Home, with the principles 
upon which it is founded, is slowly decaying. The 
"Truth as it is in Jesus" is preached and practiced 
in our churches and is drawing the multitudes. 
"Greater works than these shall ye do, because I 
go unto the Father." 

Enthusiasm is overcoming difficulties. We 
have known men to walk fifty, sixty, and even one 

13 



194 Southern Baptist Foreign Missions. 

hundred miles to carry the gospel to their parents 
or relatives. Men absent themselves from their 
homes and families for weeks, and even months, 
just to let their own people hear the gospel. Dif- 
ficulties, trials, and dangers seem to offer no 
obstacles. They know that they will be stoned, 
maltreated, and even assassinated, but they fear 
nothing. Their one desire is to proclaim the love 
of Jesus and his power to save. A few days ago, 
a lady giving her testimony as to her conversion 
told us that when she heard her mother had ac- 
cepted this religion, she rode 360 miles to take it 
out of her heart — and unfortunately succeeded. 
But as soon as she found that she was mistaken 
herself, she rode those 360 miles once more, and 
not succeeding then in winning her mother back, 
she brought her to her own home and there, with 
prayers, tears, and entreaties, led her finally to 
the feet of Jesus. With such men and women, 
the cause of Christ must prevail. Glory to His 
Name! These are not isolated instances, for the 
number of such occurrences is not only great, but 
growing. 

We find open doors everywhere. There are to- 
day but few places where the gospel preacher is 
not tolerated, and in the majority of places he is 
welcomed. This, of course, refers to the people 
and not to the emissaries of Home; the latter 
would hardly be expected to receive us with open 
arms. A few months ago, one of our native pas- 
tors visited an important city on the banks of the 



The Brazilian Mission. 195 

S. Francisco Elver, and after preaching there for 
a few days, the people, en masse, begged him to 
make that his place of residence, and the business 
men offered to set him up in business if he would 
stay. We could give numberless instances of this 
spirit. Brazil is the "open door" today. 

We daily meet with open hearts in all classes 
of society, hearts yearning for the true light and 
life, "as it is in Jesus." An influential judge, from 
the State of Piauhy, has been spending a few days 
in our house. He begged us to visit that state, 
whose population, abandoning Eome, is drifting 
into materialism for the lack of someone to tell 
them of the riches of grace that are in Christ 
Jesus. This appeal deeply touched our heart, 
unable as we are, at present, to respond to it. 

The Call. 

We need Spirit-filled, consecrated men and 
women for evangelistic work at all the mission 
stations; teachers are needed in the schools, and 
especially ladies for the kindergarten and primary 
work. 

There is one feature of mission work that is 
deplorably overlooked. We refer to the coming 
out of self-supporting missionaries; men who at 
home are filling positions in offices, warehouses ? 
public works, and who, at home, are proving their 
faith by their works, both in their so-called "sec- 
ular" employment, and also in "missionary" en- 



196 Southern Baptist Foreign Missions. 

deavor. Are not these also called to "Go into all 
the world." Was it not by such, scattered by the 
persecution, that the gospel was carried into "the 
uttermost parts of the world?" Does not the 
Brazilian also need the example referred to in Acts 
20 : 34-36, of men "working out" their salvation, 
supporting the weak, living the ordinary life and 
yet governed by an extraordinary Spirit? This 
is a country of almost unlimited possibilities, as 
the nations in the old countries are not slow to 
perceive. How great the need of truly converted 
men to step forward and take a place among the 
rest, for the Master's sake. Among the thousands 
of mechanics, engineers, railroad men, bank clerks, 
bookkeepers, at home, are there none who will 
respond to the Master's call, come to Brazil and 
still "abide in the calling" wherein they were 
called? 

You are needed. It may be at home, in serving 
by stirring up interest, in intercession on behalf 
of the work; it may be here on the field itself. 
The call has come as a surprise to many, once 
they have been awakened to listen for it. If you 
cannot go yourself, it is possible, perhaps, to send 
a substitute. 

With eyes and ears and hearts wide open, the 
multitudes of Brazil await the gospel. What have 
you done to give it to them ? What have you done 
to satisfy the heart-hunger of this people, this 
longing for a better life, a better hope, and a better 
knowledge of the Son of God ? 



The Brazilian Mission. 197 

The Brazilian Mission. 

1. Missionaries — 

(1) Foreign, 43. 

(2) Native, 76. 

2. Church Statistics — 

(1) Churches, 109. 

(2) Members, 7,085. 

(3) Church buildings, 42. 

(4) Out-stations, 200. 

(5) Sunday schools, 89. 

(6) Sunday school scholars, 3,230. 

3. Schools — 

(1) Day schools, 16. 

(2) Girls' School in Bahia. 

(3) Boys' School in Pernambuco. 

(4) Girls' School in Sao Paulo. 

(5) Theological Training School in Pernambuco. 

(6) Baptist College and Seminary in Rio. 

4. Literary— 

(1) Publishing House in Rio. 

(2) ■ "O Jornal Baptista" (weekly paper). 

(3) Sunday school literature, books and tracts. 

5. Work opened 1879. 



CHAPTER X. 



THE MEXICAN MISSIONS. 

About 16,000,000 people live in Mexico, one- 
fourth of whom are Indians, or pure Mexicans, 
representing the tribes found here by Cortez.. 
The other three-fourths are a mixed race. Among 
the foreigners are found French, German, English, 
and Americans, the latter predominating. 

Eoman Catholicism was brought into this coun- 
try by the Spaniards at the time of the conquest 
and is still the religion of the majority of the 
people. Naturally, the customs, civil and social, 
have been molded by the religion of the people — 
the priest and the church being the center of 
everything. The Lord's day is a holiday instead 
of a holy day, a day of revelry, of bull fights, the- 
aters, circuses, and army maneuvers. State and 
federal elections are held on Sunday. 

Hernando Cortez landed in Mexico on March 20, 
1519. On setting out from Cuba, he raised the 
flag of conquest — a black ensign emblazoned with 
the arms of Charles V, it being a cross borne in 
clouds with the motto : "Friends, let us follow 
the cross, and if we have faith we shall conquer." 
With the landing of Cortez began a reign of 
bloodshed and plunder that resulted in the subju- 

(198) 



The Mexican Missions. 



199 



MEXICO 

OUR PRINCIPAL. MISSION 
/STATIONS ARE UNDERLlTTED 
)NLV CHIEF RAILWAVS ARE GIVEN 



UNITED STATER 




GULF 



C QCEA* 4 



200 Southern Baptist Foreign Missions. 

gation of all the Indian tribes, the possession of 
their lands by the Spaniards, and the establish- 
ment of Eoman Catholicism as the religion of the 
people. For three centuries Spain ruled in this 
goodly land and Eomanism flourished like a green 
bay tree. Not until 1810 was the cry of Independ- 
ence raised by the patriot priest, Hidalgo. He 
was at once excommunicated, and when he was 
captured, was shot, then decapitated, his head 
being carried to the city of Guanajuato, where it 
was hung high up on the walls of the castle of 
Granaditas. In 1821 a quasi liberty was declared, 
and while it was not much in fact, it was a proph- 
ecy of what was to be. Mexico had felt the thrill 
of a new life; she had beheld the signs of the 
dawn of a better day. The fires kindled on that 
memorable September night by the old patriot, 
Hidalgo, were kept burning by a few faithful 
souls. The desire for liberty spread from breast 
to breast, from one community to another, until 
the adoption of the new Constitution in 1857. 
The laws against the clergy were then enforced, 
and liberty of conscience became a fact for the 
first time in the history of Mexico. 

According to the best authority, Kev. James 
Hickey was the first to begin mission work on the 
northern frontier, and the First Baptist Church of 
Monterey, which was organized by him, is the 
oldest church in the Republic. He was born in 
Ireland on September 28, 1800, and was educated 
for the priesthood. He abandoned Romanism 



The Mexican Missions. 201 

and became a Protestant preacher. He emigrated 
to America, spent several years in the Eastern 
states, and having become an agent of the Ameri- 
can Tract Society, came South about the opening 
of the Civil War, and crossing the border at 
Brownsville, Texas, began work at Matamoras. 
While here, he received an invitation from 
Thomas W. Westrup to come to Monterey. West- 
rup, at this time, was not a believer, and sent for 
Hickey to come and teach him the way of the Lord. 
In answer to Westrup's invitation, Hickey came 
to Monterey, arriving in November, 1862, and at 
once set about his Master's business. On January 
13, 1864, just outside the city of Monterey, in a 
ditch, Hickey baptized Thomas Westrup, Jose M. 
Uranga, and the latter's brother, and that same 
night, in Hickey's house, a church was organized 
with five constituent members — Hickey, his wife, 
and the three baptized that afternoon. Soon 
after the death of Hickey, Thomas Westrup was 
appointed agent of the American Bible Society 
and began his work as such, March 1, 1867. 

In the summer of 1869, having heard that there 
was a large number of Baptists in and around 
Monterey, Dr. Backus, who was at that time the 
Corresponding Secretary of the Home Mission 
Society of New York, wrote a letter of inquiry to 
Westrup, and soon after invited him to New York 
to confer with the Society. In the fall of 1871, 
Westrup accepted this invitation, and returned to 
Mexico as the first missionary of the Home Mis- 



202 Southern Baptist Foreign Missions. 

sion Society. The day after his arrival from New 
York, eleven members of the church waited on him 
for a conference, and after going over the whole 
matter carefully, it was decided to reorganize the 
church. This was done on July 4, 1871, when the 
church formally assumed the name, "Baptist 
Church of Monterey." There was no change either 
1 in character or doctrine. It was simply a reor- 
ganization to rid themselves of the irregularities 
that had crept in. 



WORK BEGUN BY SOUTHERN BAPTISTS. 

On account of continued revolutions on the fron- 
tier, the Home Mission Society withdrew from 
the field in 1876, and it was not until 1881 that 
it returned to take up the work anew. In the 
meantime, the Foreign Mission Board of the 
Southern Baptist Convention began work in 
Mexico by appointing John O. Westrup, a brother 
of Thomas, and through whose labors he was con- 
verted from Komanism, as its first missionary. 
He lived in the town of Muzquiz, State of Coa- 
huila, where a church had been organized in 1877. 
The field assigned him was the entire State of 
Coahuila. For some months he had been sup- 
ported by the State Mission Board of Texas. The 
field, in which there were at that time four 
churches, was turned over to the Eichmond Board. 
A few months after being appointed by our Board, 



The Mexican Missions. 203 

he, together with a Mexican companion, was mur- 
dered by Indian bandits on December 21, 
1880, about fifteen miles west of Progresso, in the 
State of Coahuila. The assassination of Westrup 
served to awaken the Baptists at home, both North 
and South. The Home Mission Society hastened 
to take up the work laid down five years before, 
and the Eichmond Board appointed W. M. Flour- 
noy to succeed the lamented Westrup. Through 
the influence of General A. T. Hawthorn, who at 
that time was Secretary of the "Texas State Board 
of Missions," Eev. O. C. Pope and Bev. W. D. 
Powell came to Mexico in the spring of 1882 to 
"spy out the land." On their return, the "spies" 
made a most favorable report of what they had 
seen, and at once Southern Baptists began to 
make ready to "go up and possess the land." Ac- 
cordingly, on May 31, 1882, W. D. Powell and 
wife and his wife's sister, Miss Anna Mayberry, 
were appointed as missionaries to Mexico, and in 
October of the same year, they arrived in Saltillo, 
the capital of the State of Coahuila. 

Organization and Growth — 1882-1898. 

On reaching Saltillo, the missionaries rented a 
house, and in a short time they began to hold 
public services, Mr. Powell preaching through an 
interpreter. Mrs. Powell and Miss Mayberry 
opened a day school, and at the same time Mr. 
Powell began to plan for a school for boys, where 



204 Southern Baptist Foreign Missions. 

young men who so desired might study for the min- 
istry. Much work had already been done in this 
state by the brethren working out of Monterey. 
The new missionaries found two workers, Mr. and 
Mrs. Flournoy, five preaching stations, fifty-two 
church members, and one school with forty pupils. 
In May, 1884, less than two years afterward, the 
reports show three missionaries, seven native 
helpers, seven preaching stations, and 117 church 
members. During this time, El Heraldo, the first 
Baptist paper ever published in Mexico, was gotten 
out by W. D. Powell and Prof. J. M. Cardenas. 
During the four years of its existence, it was a 
great help. 

In December, 1883, Dr. Tupper, who was then 
the Corresponding Secretary of our Board, came 
to Saltillo to arrange the titles to several pieces 
of property — one in Saltillo to be used as a school 
for girls, and another for a church and school 
purposes; also a property in Parras, which 
was given to the Board by Governor Madero. 
Another in Patos was rented. Schools were to 
be opened in these three places at an early day. 
Madero Institute was opened at Saltillo in Octo- 
ber, 1884, with seventy pupils in attendance. On 
the occasion of the formal opening of the school, 
quite a number of American Baptists were pres- 
ent. The corner-stone of the new meeting house 
was laid at the same time, and those present con- 
tributed f 1,400 to the building fund. The school 
at Patos was opened by Misses Barton and Tupper 



The Mexican Missions. 205 

in the following year, and in 1889, Zaragoza Insti- 
tute for boys was organized in Saltillo by H. E. 
Moseley, who was afterward driven out of the 
country by persecution. On December 12, 1884, 
messengers from eight churches having 150 mem- 
bers met in Saltillo and organized the "Baptist 
Association of Coahuila." On Sunday, during 
the session of the Association, J. M. Gonzalez was 
set apart to the work of the ministry, and the day 
following, he, Albino Martinez, and Pedro N. 
Flores, were appointed as missionaries within the 
bounds of the Association. 

In 1887, the Saltillo meeting house, so auspi- 
ciously begun two years before, was completed and 
dedicated. This was the first meeting house built 
by Southern Baptists in Mexico, and its com- 
pletion marked an epoch in the history of our 
work. 

While the Saltillo field had received special 
attention on account of its being our natural "base 
of supplies," the workers were constantly looking 
toward other fields where the doors were open 
and the harvest was waiting for the reapers. In 
1887, Zacatecas, capital of the state of the same 
name, was occupied by H. P. McCormick and wife, 
and these were soon after joined by Miss Barton, 
who went to open a day school. Several members 
of the Saltillo church had moved to Zacatecas, 
looking for work in the mines, and these formed 
the nucleus of the church which was soon after 
organized. In 1892, a splendid meeting house 



206 Southern Baptist Foreign Missions. 

was built, and in the same year McCormick, hav- 
ing moved to Morelia, Eudd took charge of this 
work and remained until his removal to Saltillo in 
the fall of 1893. He was succeeded by Eev. Marion 
Gassoway, who died in Zacatecas in December, 
1895, since which time no American missionary 
has lived in that city. The work has been carried 
on by native preachers. 

Guadalajara, the capital of the State of Jalisco, 
is easily the second city in the Republic, and the 
commercial capital of a great territory reaching 
to the Pacific coast. To this city D. A. Wilson 
moved in 1887, and in a short time gathered a good 
congregation. He was assisted at different times 
by Mrs. Janie Duggan, Miss McDavid, and Miss 
Sarah Hale. In 1892 he began publishing our 
Sunday School Quarterly, Expositor Bi~blico, 
which is now the best Sunday school quarterly 
published in Spanish. It circulates in Mexico, 
Porto Rico, and Cuba, as well as in South 
America. 

The year 1892 was a year of expansion, Morelia 
being one of the two new fields opened in that year 
is the capital of the state of Michoacan. H. P. 
McCormick, who had done pioneer work in Zaca- 
tecas, came to Morelia and remained until his 
return to the States in 1898. During his ministry 
here, many places were visited, a great deal of lit- 
erature was distributed, churches were organized 
in Morelia, San Juan, and Guayameo; two faith- 



The Mexican Missions. 207 

ful native preachers were ordained, and in March, 
1898, the Michoacan Association was organized. 

Toluca was the second field opened in this year. 
The regions beyond had sent up the "Macedonian" 
cry. W. D. Powell, who had done a remarkable 
work on the frontier during the ten years he had 
lived in Saltillo, moved to Toluca, capital of the 
State of Mexico, in 1892. A church was organized 
in the following year, and before he left the field, 
in 1898, many believers had been baptized at 
various places and churches had been organized 
in Villa Guerrero and in Taxco, a splendid town 
in the State of Guerrero. 

The work so auspiciously begun in 1882 had 
grown rapidly during the sixteen years from 1882 
to 1898 ; the single station had multiplied into six 
independent fields; instead of work in one state, 
we had work in seven states; and since the first 
three workers reached Saltillo in 1882, twenty-six 
additional workers, men and women, had been 
sent out. At the opening of the year 1898 there 
were fourteen American missionaries on the differ- 
ent fields, besides a large number of native pastors 
and helpers. Madero and Zaragoza Institutes 
had grown, and the influence of both was being 
felt far and wide, while the school at Patos had 
also prospered under the missionaries who were 
assisted by faithful native teachers. That mis- 
sions, like individuals, have their days of adversity 
as well as their days of prosperity has been amply 
demonstrated by the Mexican Mission. It is not 



208 Southern Baptist Foreign Missions. 

the purpose of this chronicler to go into the 
causes of our troubles in that epoch. Suffice it to 
say that the year 1898 saw the splendid work so 
well begun almost completely abandoned. Three of 
our most active workers, with their wives, resigned 
and left the field. Madero Institute, that had 
been the chief pride and joy of the whole mission, 
was closed; Zaragoza Institute, our training 
school for preachers, closed its doors; and the 
school at Patos was abandoned. 

Eeorganization and Eeinforcement — 1898-1909. 

When the writer and his family reached Saltillo 
on October 22, 1898, he found Miss Sarah Hale 
the only American missionary in the city, living 
in the Madero Institute, caring for the property, 
and at the same time editing and publishing El 
Expositor Biblico, our Sunday school quarterly 
that had been started in Guadalajara some years 
before. The Saltillo church had a native pastor, 
but there was little life in the church, and the con- 
gregations were very small. At the time of the 
"exodus," A. C. Watkins remained in Torreon, 
and about the time the writer arrived in Saltillo, 
J. G. Chastain moved from Doctor Arroyo to 
Morelia. These brethren, with their wives and 
Miss Hale, constituted our missionary force. In 
planning the reorganization of its work in this 
republic, the Board thought it wise to have two 
Missions instead of one, as formerly, and decided 
on the 22d parallel as the dividing line between 
the North and South Mexican Missions. 




Inner Court of Girls' School Building, Toluca. Mexico 
School Building. Chihuahua Madero Institute, Saltillo 

Theological Training School, Torreon 



The Mexican Missions. 209 

Miss Hale remained in Saltillo, editing El 
Expositor, and in July, 1899, J. S. Cheavens, who 
had come out in December of the year previous, 
moved from Torreon to Saltillo and assumed 
charge of the work of the entire Saltillo field. In 
October of the same year, Miss Barton returned 
to the work and opened a day school in the old 
institute building. It was a small affair com- 
pared with former years, but it was something, 
and the workers looked forward to the time when 
Madero Institute would be reopened and when 
the Lord would again send prosperity to all the 
work on that field. 

In the year 1900, Miss Hale, on account of fail- 
ing health, resigned, and Cheavens became editor 
of El Expositor, which place he filled with marked 
ability until four years later, when he resigned as 
editor on account of the press of other duties, and 
J. G. Chastain was elected to take his place. 

In the early part of 1904, G. H. Lacy gathered 
together some teachers, and on January 11, Ma- 
dero Institute, after a lapse of five years, was 
reopened with twenty-six girls in attendance on 
the first day, which number within two months 
grew to fifty. The reopening of this once famous 
institution marked distinct advance, and all felt 
this school would be a greater power than ever 
before. Miss Ida Hayes is now in charge of this 
school. 

The Torreon field, that had been opened by A. C. 
Watkins in 1896, was still occupied by him at the 

14 



210 Southern Baptist Foreign Missions. 

time of the reorganization of the Mission, and 
amid great difficulties he had done a substantial 
work. As the Zaragoza Institute had been closed 
and the brethren deemed it unwise to attempt to 
reopen it, and as the need of more trained native 
preachers was great, in 1901 he opened a theo- 
logical training school in Torreon, where he gath- 
ered a small company of young men, and with the 
help of his native assistant, began to train them as 
preachers. This school has already sent out a 
number of active, efficient preachers, and is des- 
tined to play no small part in our work on the 
frontier. 

In the fall of 1903, Watkins was forced by the 
continued illness of his wife to return to the 
States, and Cheavens returned to Torreon from 
Saltillo to take charge of all the work on the Tor- 
reon field, including the theological institute. A 
splendid new school building was completed amid 
great rejoicing in October, 1905. Cheavens re- 
mained with the school until the spring of 1907, 
when he was forced to return to the States to 
recuperate his failing health. On the retirement 
of Cheavens, T>. H. LeSueur was elected to take 
his place. 

In 1902, a day school was opened in Toluca, 
under the care of Mrs. Miiller. At the opening of 
the second session a boarding department was 
added, and Miss Barton came down from Saltillo 
to take charge as principal, Mrs. Miiller having 
resigned. Another native teacher was secured, 



The Mexican Missions. 211 

and the second year was a very satisfactory one in 
every way. It was the first boarding school we 
had ever had in the South Mexican Mission, and 
our hearts warmed to the new-comer, for we be- 
lived it to be a gift from the Lord. We named it 
"Institute Anglo-Mexicano." 

Having seen the beginning of a boarding school 
for girls, the missionaries in the South Mexi- 
can Mission felt that the time had come when 
we ought to have a boarding school for boys. 
In February, 1903, the "Institute Centra?" 
was opened, with eight boys in attendance. 
It was a small beginning, but the founders 
had thought they had seen a vision of a real 
college, with a theological department. The 
purpose and aim of it all was the thorough train- 
ing of Christian workers. Both of these schools 
grew rapidly, and we soon saw the necessity of 
buying properties to insure better results. In the 
spring of 1904 the "Institute Anglo-Mexicano," 
our school for girls, moved into its own home, a 
splendid building, well located, and in February, 
1906, the fourth session of the "Institute Central" 
was opened in its own quarters with a full corps 
of teachers and a large number of students. 

Co-education had never been tried in any school 
in the South field up to this time, but driven by 
necessity we consolidated all our class work of 
the two schools in 1905, and it has proved a great 
success. At the same time there was a saving in 
teachers' salaries of hundreds of dollars annually. 



212 Southern Baptist Foreign Missions. 

From the beginning of the school work in 
Toluca, the missionary in charge had in mind the 
idea of adding a training department in which a 
special course would be given to the young ladies 
who desired to prepare themselves for special 
work in our Missions, but it was not possible to 
carry out the plan until the spring of 1906. In 
April of that year, Miss Susan Jones, who had 
been at work in the City of Mexico as the repre- 
sentative of the Woman's Board of Chicago, was 
appointed as a missionary of our Board, and at 
once took charge of this work. iUtkough she has 
labored amid great difficulties, she has been able 
to keep the work going, and this year her first 
class graduates. 

In the early part of the year 1901, Mr. Wilson 
signified his intention of leaving Guadalajara, and 
the Board at once set about planning to reenter 
that important field. It was thought wise that 
J. G. Chastain take up that work, and accordingly, 
in the spring of the same year, he moved to Guad- 
alajara. Since the going of Chastain to that field, 
the church has been reorganized — a splendid 
property for church and school purposes has been 
bought, services opened in one of the suburbs of 
the city, a church organized, and a Sunday school 
established in Colima, the capital of the State of 
Colima. In November, 1905, our first medical 
Missionary, Dr. B. W. Hooker, was transferred 
from Leon to Guadalajara, where he at once began 
what has since grown into a great work. The 



The Mexican Missions. 213 

year following, Mrs. Hooker opened a flourishing 
day school. 

In the spring of 1899, an uneducated native 
preacher, Petronela Cardona, who had been bap- 
tized years before by W. D. Powell, went from 
Torreon to Durango looking for work. He did 
not forget to do work for the Lord, and it was not 
long before a company of believers sent a letter to 
our missionary in Torreon, asking him to come 
over and baptize them, which he did. In Novem- 
ber of the same year a church was organized in 
the city of Durango, of which this same Mexican 
preacher became pastor. 

J. E. Davis, being a practical printer, by the 
permission of the Board, collected several hundred 
dollars before leaving the States,, and on his 
arrival in Toluca in October, 1904, bought a press, 
and in a short time our first printery began opera- 
tions. During the following year one quarter's 
issue of El Expositor, then edited by J. G. Chas- 
tain was printed on our own press. This marked 
another epoch in our work in Mexico. In Decem- 
ber, 1905, the printery was moved to Leon, and 
since then has been greatly enlarged. On our 
own presses are now printed El Expositor Biblico, 
"Nuestros Ninos," a Sunday school quarterly for 
children, first edited and published by J. G. Chas- 
tain; also our weekly denominational paper, El 
Atalaya, which first saw the light in January, 
1908. Several books have been gotten out by our 
printery, such as "The Short History of the Bap- 



214 Southern Baptist Foreign Missions. 

tists," by Vedder; Christian's Book on Immer- 
sion; Dr. Frost's Book on the Lord's Supper, be- 
sides others which will be of great help to our 
native preachers especially. In additon to his 
other duties in and out of the printery, Davis was 
elected in July, 1907, editor of all our periodicals 

In the early days of our work in Mexico, our 
first missionary urged the Board to send a man to 
Chihuahua, but it was June 13, 1902, when Eev. 
J. W. Newbrough and family reached that city 
for the purpose of opening work. They found a 
number of Baptist people who had moved in from 
other places, and on June 22d, soon after their 
arrival, a church was organized, which developed 
into a strong, prosperous body. About 1906, the 
school that had been conducted by Mr. Newbrough 
as a private enterprise, became a mission school, 
and the past year, 1908, saw a commodious build- 
ing completed. In 1906 the second Baptist 
church in this state was organized in Parral, an 
important mining town, and here was opened, in 
February, 1908, our first industrial school, and so 
far as the writer knows, the first industrial school 
opened by any denomination in this country. The 
church and school are both in charge of Bev. P. H. 
Pierson. The school has received no help from 
the Board, being supported entirely by Mr. Pier- 
son and his personal friends. There are at present 
forty boys in attendance, and the school gives 
promise of becoming a great blessing to that field. 

In March, 1909, the Chihuahua Association was 



The Mexican Missions. 215 

organized, and in August following, another 
church was organized at Santa Kosalia. 

When W. F. Hatchell left Morelia in November, 
1904, he w r as anxious to get to a lower altitude. 
He decided to open work on the west coast, and 
moved to Hermosillo, capital of the State of 
Sonora. He maintained preaching services in 
Hermosillo and at Guaymas, on the coast. At 
the latter place a church was organized in Jan- 
uary, 1907. In April of this same year, Hatchell 
and Frank Marrs exchanged fields, Hatchell going 
to Jaurez. Marrs reached Hermosillo in April, 
and in June a church was organized in that city. 
Since then, churches have been organized in Torin, 
Alamos, and at Mazatlan, State of Sinaloa. Sev- 
eral native preachers have been set to work on that 
field, and besides the three churches organized, 
flourishing day schools have been opened in Guay- 
mas and Mazatlan. 

Although Ciudad Jaurez is in the State of 
Chihuahua, it was thought wise to make it the 
home of a missionary and the center of an inde- 
pendent work. Leaving Durango in July, 1906, 
Frank Marrs went to Juarez, and finding there 
several Baptists, he organized them into a church 
in September following his arrival. He remained 
in this field and in charge of this work until April, 
1907, when he exchanged fields with Hatchell and 
moved to Hermosillo. Hatchell has been in Jaurez 
since the exchange. The church has grown in 
numbers, and last year a day school was opened. 



216 Southern Baptist Foreign Missions. 

Would that I had space to tell more of the his- 
toric labors of our first missionaries, and would 
that I could give a more extended notice of those 
who have been called to their reward while labor- 
ing in Mexico, some of whom sleep in Mexican 
cemeteries, awaiting the coming of the King. Fain 
would I dwell at length on the lives and labors of 
our faithful native colporteurs ; for many of them 
have wrought nobly during these years and are in 
every way worthy of our love and respect. Would 
that I could lay bare to you the appalling needs of 
16,000,000 people who live in Mexico. But I must 
close, with the hope that you will remember "the 
harvest indeed is plenteous, but the laborers are 
few; pray ye, therefore, the Lord of the harvest, 
that he send forth laborers into his harvest." 

The Mexican Missions. 

I. North Mexican Mission. 

1. Missionaries — 

(1) Foreign, 18. 

(2) Native, 38. 

2. Church Statistics- 
CD Churches, 34. 

(2) Members, 1,541. 

(3) Church buildings, 15. 

(4) Out-stations, 68. 

(5) Sunday schools, 35. 

(6) Sunday school scholars, 1,086. 

3. Educational — 

(1) Day schools, 6. 
(2) Madero Institute (Girls) at Saltillo. 



The Mexican Missions. 217 

(3) Boarding School at Chihuahua. 

(4) Industrial School at Parral. 

(5) Theological School at Torreon. 

4. General — 

(1) Mission opened 1880. 

(2) Residences for missionaries owned by the 

Board, 5. 
II. South Mexican Mission. 

1. Missionaries — 

(1) Foreign, 16. 

(2) Native, 11. 

2. Church Statistics — 

(1) Churches, 12. 

(2) Church buildings, 6. 

(3) Members, 383. 

(4) Out-stations, 16. 

(5) Sunday schools, 11. 

(6) Sunday school scholars, 330. 

3. Educational — 

(1) Instituto Central (Boys' School, Toluca). 

(2) Instituto Anglo-Mexicano (Girls' School, 

Toluca). 

4. Medical — 

(1) Dispensary and physician at Guadalajara. 

(2) Dispensary and physician at Toluca. 

5. Literary — 

(1) Printery at Leon. 

(2) Sunday school periodicals, weekly paper, 

books published at Leon. 

6. General — 

(1) Work opened 1880. 
(2) Residences for missionaries owned by the 
Board, 5. 



CHAPTER XL 



THE JAPAN MISSION. 

Fifteen years after the organization of the 
Southern Baptist Convention in Augusta, Ga., in 
1845, its Foreign Mission Board appointed three 
young men, J. C. A. Khorer, C. H. Toy, and John L. 
Johnson, as missionaries to Japan. They were all 
men of splendid ability, and had they been per- 
mitted to reach the field, their work would doubt- 
less have added a glorious chapter to the history 
of the stirring events of that pioneer period. 
Ehorer and wife sailed from New York on August 
3, 1860, but their ship, the ill-fated Edwin Forest, 
was never heard from after it left the home port. 
Toy and Johnson were prevented from starting by 
the Civil War, which began the year following 
their appointment. 

During the decade which followed this unsuc- 
cessful attempt, there was one Baptist missionary 
in Japan, Jonathan Goble by name. He first 
visited the country as a member of the crew on 
one of Perry's ships. Goble was appointed mis- 
sionary to Japan by the American Baptist Mis- 
sionary Union in 1860, and he labored there until 
1873, when his connection with the Union ceased. 
According to all accounts, he was a man of 

(218) 



The Japan Mission. 



219 




220 Southern Baptist Foreign Missions. 

little learning and with a zeal that was not always 
tempered by discretion. At one time he figured 
in the Consular Court, where charges had been 
preferred against him by some native carpenters 
whom he had tried by the application of "muscular 
Christianity" to induce to observe the Christian 
Sabbath. Though he left no organized church to 
commemorate his labors in Japan, he contributed 
his share to the making of the nation by his inven- 
tion of the jinriksha. This overgrown perambu- 
lator on two wheels was constructed by him for 
the benefit of his invalid wife. It found wide- 
spread favor throughout Japan and in parts of 
China and the Malay Peninsula. It now affords 
employment to many thousand coolies, as well as 
a comfortable and cheap means of conveyance for 
the general public. 

The real pioneer of Baptist missions in Japan 
was Dr. Nathan Brown, who was sent out by the 
American Baptist Missionary Union in 1873. 
During the twelve years which followed his ap- 
pointment, a number of other missionaries were 
sent out by the Union, but four of the six died 
and the rest returned to the homeland before they 
had been in Japan long enough to master the 
language. 

The advance of Protestant Christianity in 
Japan after the first decade of preparatory work 
constitutes one of the most marvelous chapters in 
the history of modern missions. From 1870 until 
1890, those denominations which had been per- 



The Japan Mission. 221 

mitted to enter the field when the ports of Japan 
were first opened reaped a rich harvest, and dur- 
ing this period the membership of their churches 
doubled every three years. Their Boards of For- 
eign Missions made special efforts in behalf of this 
promising field, with such success that thirty 
years after the arrival of the first missionaries 
their churches numbered 30,G00 converts and a 
good beginning had been made in the training of 
a native ministry. Before the Baptists were pre- 
pared to strengthen their forces in Japan, what is 
known as the Eeaction came. The change in the 
attitude of the Japanese people from a widespread 
and marked interest in Christianity to indiffer- 
ence and even hostility was at first gradual, but in 
the end very pronounced. The first large rein- 
forcement of Baptist work in Japan was contem- 
porary with the beginning of this Keaction, and 
the earliest Baptist churches were organized dur- 
ing the period when the churches of other de- 
nominations had not only ceased to grow, but 
were not able even to hold their own. During 
the thirty years which followed their first un- 
successful attempts to send missionaries to Japan, 
but little mention was made among Southern Bap- 
tists of this country as a mission field. 

Several years before the close of this period, 
however, Dr. M. T. Yates, of blessed memory, had 
urged upon the Foreign Board the advisability 
of sending missionaries to Japan, even going so 
far as to offer to become responsible for the 



222 Southern Baptist Foreign Missions. 

salary of a man if the Board would send him 
out. When the Board finally decided to enter 
this inviting field, the men for the task were 
at hand. When the writer entered the Southern 
Baptist Theological Seminary, in the fall of 1888, 
two of the most brilliant members of the grad- 
uating class of that session were J. W. McCollum 
and J. A. Brunson. In May, 1889, they were 
appointed as missionaries to labor in Japan. The 
writer remembers hearing many expressions of 
astonishment when it became known that these 
two men were about to turn away from the as- 
sured futures which aw^aited them in the home 
land to bury their lives and their many talents 
in the then little known country beyond the 
Pacific. Deep and powerful as was the mission- 
ary spirit which dominated the Seminary, there 
was a lurking feeling in the minds of many 
that it was a pity for such men to waste their 
splendid powers on the foreign field. It has 
been hard for some of God's people to learn the 
lesson which the Holy Spirit taught to the church 
at Antioch, when He said, " Separate me Barna- 
bas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called 
them." 

McCollum and Brunson both married during 
the summer following their appointment and 
sailed with their wives from San Francisco October 
17, 1889. They had as fellow passengers eight 
missionaries of the A. B. M. U. bound for the 
same field. The party landed at Yokohama No- 



The Japan Mission. 223 

vember 5th, where the young representatives of the 
Southern Board received a generous welcome 
from the missionaries of the A. B. M. U. located 
at this port. After consultation with these 
brethren, it was decided that McCollum and Bran- 
son should take up their residence temporarily 
at Kobe. Here and in the neighboring city of 
Osaka the young missionaries spent two years 
in studying the language, the customs and habits 
of the Japanese and some phases of mission work. 
During this period of preparation McCollum gave 
his attention chiefly to the mastery of the spoken 
language, while Brunson concentrated his keen 
mind on the intricacies of the written forms. These 
two forms of the language are so entirely dis- 
tinct, both in grammar and vocabulary, as to 
almost constitute different languages, and each 
form is so difficult that the ordinary span of 
human life hardly suffices for the mastery of 
either. 

McCollum secured a house on a busy street 
in Osaka where he could come into daily con- 
tact with the people and thus learn the language 
from their lips. His method of study, coupled 
with a quick ear and a retentive memory, enabled 
him to acquire, in the short space of two years, 
a better use of the colloquial than most mission- 
aries have after live years of work. Brunson 
worked in his study, using such helps as were 
to be had, and laying the foundation for the 
mastery of the literary language. 



224 Southern Baptist Foreign Missions. 

Thus equipped it became necessary for the mis- 
sionaries to decide upon a permanent location for 
their work. After looking the field over as op- 
portunity offered, they finally selected Kyushu, 
the southernmost of the four main islands of 
the Japanese Archipelago, and January, 1892, 
found Brunson and family located in the little 
city of Kokura. McCollum joined them there in 
March of the same year. He was able to begin 
preaching at once and several out-stations were 
opened. For some months before coming to Kyu 
shu, Brunson had been much exercised over the 
question of resigning and returning to America. 
He had never been happy in his work. His often 
repeated exclamation to his fellow missionary 
was, "McCollum, I cannot stand it, the Lord does 
not want me here; I am a square pin in a round 
hole." This state of mind finally resulted in his 
resignation. He left the field with his family 
in September, 1892, passing somewhere in mid- 
ocean E. N. Walne and wife who had embarked 
at Vancouver, B. C, for Japan, on September 9th. 
The McCollums were thus left for a time the 
only representatives of Southern Baptists in 
Japan and the only Baptist missionaries in Kyu- 
shu. A few weeks after the Bransons' depart- 
ure, the Walnes joined the McCollums at Kokura. 
The two families lived for six months in the 
same compound, and during those early days, 
when they mutually shared each other's trials and 
disappointments, there grew between them such 




Theological Seminary, Fukuoka. Japan 

MR. CHIBA, President of Theological Seminary, Church, Sasebo 

with His Family 

E. N. WALNE and J. W. McCOLLUM AND FAMILIES 



The Japan Mission. 225 

a friendship as could only exist between those 
whose lives are passed in close and congenial 
association in one of the outposts of the mission 
field. 

During these early days, the two families shared 
many troublesome and vexatious experiences. 
The people were unfriendly toward foreigners in 
general and Christians in particular. The ap- 
pearance of the missionaries upon the streets 
was the signal for the gathering of curious and 
sometimes hostile crowds. They were frequently 
stoned and nearly always hooted at. As stated 
above, they had begun their work at a time when 
the tide of popular favor had turned and the 
old barbarian expelling spirit had been revived. 
They found it almost impossible to secure preach- 
ing places. Even when landlords were found who 
were willing to rent their property to Christians, 
no binding contract could be made and land- 
lords were often forced by public opinion to turn 
the missionaries out. Though more anxious for 
reinforcements than they were for comfortable 
homes and suitable chapels, the missionaries were 
soon forced to see that little progress could be 
made until they could own property which they 
could control as centers for their work. 

One experience which came soon after the 
arrival of the Walnes will serve to illustrate the 
difficulties of those early days. The foreigners 
had no treaty rights in Japan save in a few 
open ports such as Yokohama, Kobe, and Naga- 

15 



226 Southern Baptist Foreign Missions. 

saki. Those who went into the interior had to 
hire themselves to Japanese subjects who secured 
passports for them in their own names. The 
man who "employed" the Walnes and McCollums, 
and in whose names their passports were issued, 
proved false, and misappropriated over one hun- 
dred dollars which had been paid to him for 
rents and left the missionaries in the interior 
without any legal rights to be there. It was 
at this time that Mr. Kawakatsu, Dr. Brown's old 
associate, came to Kyushu. He was sent by the 
Yokohama brethren to help the new missionaries 
out of their difficulties. When his time was up, 
he chose to remain and has been connected with 
the Southern Baptist work for the past eighteen 
years. Through the influence of his brother, who 
was a police inspector, Mr. Kawakatsu was able 
to secure passports for the missionaries without 
their having to return to Kobe. In this connec- 
tion it ought to be said that this was the only 
instance in which the missionaries were defrauded 
by the Japanese in whom they had confided, 
though for years the titles to all of the property 
acquired by the Mission were held in the names 
of Japanese. 

In the spring of 1893 in order to more econom- 
ically look after the stations, McCollum moved 
to Moji and Walne to Fukuoka, the two stations 
being fifty miles apart and connected by a rail- 
road. Between them were three out-stations. 
At this time there were, besides Mr. Kawakatsu, 



The Japan Mission. 227 

who was an ordained preacher, two Japanese evan- 
gelists associated with the missionaries. Dur- 
ing the two years 1892-93 some tw r enty-flve be- 
lievers were baptized. All of these were theo- 
retically members of the Baptist church in Shimo- 
noseki, an A. B. M. U. station. The Southern 
Baptist missionaries found in Eev. E. L. Hal- 
sey, who had charge of this station, a sympathetic 
and obliging friend. 

In October, 1893, the Moji Baptist church was 
organized with thirty members, this body becom- 
ing the mother church from which have gone 
out all of the other churches now on the field. 
At the time of the organization of this church 
the total membership of the Baptist churches in 
Japan was 1,394. During the following year 
eleven w T ere added by baptism to the membership 
of the Moji church. 

In the spring of 1894, the McCollums were 
forced by ill health to go to a treaty port for 
medical attention, and, in the fall, they returned 
to the United States for recuperation. Soon after 
their departure, the Walnes were cheered by the 
arrival of Nathan Maynard and wife. For almost 
a year, the two families lived together at Fukuoka. 
In the fall of 1895 the Maynards moved to Ko- 
kura, being unable to secure a house at Moji. Mrs. 
Maynard's delicate health made it impossible for 
either of them to do much traveling, so that 
all the years of their service in Japan were de- 
voted to this field, with results which have been 



228 Southern Baptist Foreign Missions. 

truly gratifying. No other part of the field in 
Kyushu has been so well developed. The Moji 
church is well on the way toward self-support, 
and churches have been organized at Kokura and 
Yawata, while work has been carried on at several 
out-stations. Owing to Mrs. Maynard's health 
the Maynards have been detained in the United 
States. 

During the winter of 1894-95 the war between 
Japan and China was in progress and there 
were many interruptions to mission work, grow- 
ing out of the excited state of the popular mind 
and other causes connected with the war. Sol- 
diers were frequently quartered in the chapels and 
at such times regular services had to be suspended. 

In the fall of 1895 the McCollums returned 
to the field and were located at Fukuoka, and 
in the spring of the following year, the Walnes 
were transferred to Nagasaki, thus lengthening 
out the line until the stations and out-stations of 
the Mission extended along the northern and east- 
ern coasts of the island of Kyushu for a distance 
of one hundred and fifty miles. 

The only event to be noticed during the five 
years which followed was the coming of W. H. 
Clarke, who was appointed by the Board in Jan- 
uary, 1899. He came supported by a free will 
offering from the First Baptist Church in At- 
lanta, Ga. After a year of study, during which 
he made his home with the McCollums at Fuku- 
oka, and, after first taking to himself a help- 



The Japan Mission. 229 

meet in the person of Miss Lucille Daniel, also 
of Atlanta, Ga., he located in the historic old city 
of Kumanioto, in the interior of the island, where 
he and his wife have built up a splendid work. 

The year 1900 closed what might be termed 
the preparatory stage of Baptist work in Kyushu. 
At this time there were four missionaries and 
their wives and four Japanese preachers con- 
nected with the work, only one of the latter be- 
ing ordained. There was only one organized 
church, with seventy-five members. Such were 
the visible results of the first eight years. The 
workers were all young and inexperienced, and 
with the exception of McCollum had to spend 
much time in language study. 

After treaty revision was accomplished in 
1S99, the situation rapidly changed for the better. 
Old occasions for bitterness disappeared, and ed- 
ucation made rapid advances. Western ideas 
came pouring in, and mission work shared in 
the new life. Between 1900 and 1905, three men 
and their wives were sent out to reenforce the 
workers in Kyushu, G. F. Hambleton and wife 
of Virginia, C. T. Willingham and wife of Vir- 
ginia and J. F. Eay and wife of Mississippi. But, 
unfortunately, all three of these families were 
lost to the Mission after short terms of service. 
The Hambletons, who went out in the fall of 
1900, were forced to give up their work in the 
spring of 1906 owing to Mr. Harableton's nerv- 
ous breakdown. During the most of their term 



230 Southern Baptist Foreign Missions. 

of service, they were located at Kagoshima, the 
capital city of the famous old province of Sat- 
suma, in the southern part of the island. C. T. 
Willingham and wife, who went out in the fall 
of 1903 and were located at Fukuoka, had to 
return to the States in 1905 on account of Mrs. 
Willingham's failing health. Those who were 
associated with them will long remember the 
heroic struggle which this noble son and daugh- 
ter of the beloved secretary of the Foreign Mis- 
sion Board made to remain at their post. Only 
after three severe surgical operations and many 
month £ in the hospitals had failed to relieve the 
sufferer did they give up the struggle which, 
to many, would have seemed hopeless from the 
beginning. For five years after their return to 
the States Mrs. Willingham's health continued 
to decline and recently she passed away. 

The Kays, who went out in 1904 and who fol- 
lowed the Willinghams at Fukuoka, were forced 
also to give up the work after two years on 
account of Mrs. Kay's ill health. She suffered 
a complete nervous breakdown soon after reach- 
ing Japan. Happily, however, after two years 
and a half spent at home, she was so far recovered 
as to be able to return to the field. The Rays are 
now located at Shimonoseki. 

By the loss of these co-laborers the Mission 
force was reduced to four families, only three of 
which were on the field, the Clarkes at that time 
being at home on a furlough. Thus reduced the 



The Japan Mission. 231 

Mission was barely able to maintain the work 
already organized. The Kagoshima station had 
been without a resident missionary for some 
months. Though opportunity invited advance on 
every hand, the Mission, by the weakness of its 
forces, was shut up within the lines already 
thrown out. The situation was indeed desperate. 
Clarke was away, the Maynards were on the eve 
of leaving, Mrs. Maynard having been ordered 
home by her physician, and the Walnes had been 
on the field for seven years. McCollum had re- 
turned in the spring from a furlough of two years, 
but the state of his health was such as to cause 
the gravest concern to his colleagues. In this, 
the darkest hour of their experiences, the mis- 
sionaries were cheered by a letter from the Board 
which announced that reinforcements were on 
the way. Soon followed the arrival of G. W. 
Bouldin and wife of Alabama, C. K. Dozier and 
wife of Georgia and J. H. Eowe and wife of 
Virginia. These three young men had been fel- 
low students in the Seminary at Louisville, grad- 
uating together, marrying about the same time 
and going out on the same ship. Their coming 
was the occasion of great joy to the wearied and 
well-nigh discouraged little mission in Japan. 
Having been associated so long, the Mission hes- 
itated to separate them, so it was arranged for 
the three men and their young brides to occupy 
the mission residence at Fukuoka while they made 
their first acquaintance with the Japanese Ian- 



232 Southern Baptist Foreign Missions, 

gauge. So happy was this arrangement and so 
richly did domestic joy and peace abound that 
a young English bachelor, who went to pay a 
visit of welcome to the new arrivals, was con- 
strained thereafter to speak of their abode as 
"The Doves' Nest." 

But the demands of the work soon made it 
necessary to break up "the nest." Within less 
than a year, Bouldin was in charge of the Kago- 
shima work, Eowe had located in the important 
Kokura field and Dozier had moved to Sasebo, 
each of them having of necessity been placed in 
charge of interests which would have taxed the 
resources of veterans. 

While new missionaries were being sent out 
hardly fast enough to take the places of those 
who were being compelled to return to the home- 
land, the force of Japanese workers has been 
growing steadily. Had it not been for the faith- 
ful efforts of these native brethren, much of 
the work so happily begun would perhaps be 
abandoned. First among these was Rev. T. Ka- 
wakatsu, who has numbered more years of service 
as a preacher of the gospel than any man now 
connected with the Baptist work in Japan. Be- 
ginning when quite a young man as Dr. Brown's 
assistant, he has continued for more than thirty 
years to work as a translator, evangelist and pas- 
tor. Every part of the field has shared the ben- 
efit of his labors. The missionaries have always 
found in him a wise counselor and a sympathetic, 



The Japan Mission. 233 

helpful friend. Eev. M. Goto, the earnest and 
efficient pastor of the Moji church, was the pio- 
neer Baptist preacher in Kyushu. He was labor- 
ing there in an out-station of the A. B. M. U. 
when McCollum and Brunson first went to the 
island. He has been working continuously with 
the Southern Mission for eighteen years and is 
now pastor of one of the strongest churches on 
the field. Key. K. Sato was educated for the 
ministry in a school conducted by the Dutch Ee- 
formed Mission at Nagasaki, and for a number 
of years after graduation he worked as an evan- 
gelist of that mission. He is a good student 
of English. He came to his first knowledge of 
Baptists through reading an attack upon their 
position in an American magazine. The argu- 
ments presented were so unsatisfactory that 
doubts were raised in his mind, and when he 
learned that there were Baptist missionaries in 
Fukuoka he came to them for more light on the 
subject. He soon afterward united with the 
Moji Baptist church. He was licensed to preach 
in 1896 and ordained in 1906. In 1907 he resigned 
the pastorate of the Fukuoka church to accept 
the Chair of Old Testament Interpretation in 
the Fukuoka Baptist Seminary. He is a highly 
cultured man and a strong preacher. Mr. H. 
Sugano was baptized by Mr. Brunson in the 
spring of 1892. The next year he began to preach 
as a lay worker and later on he became a reg- 
ular evangelist. He went to Nagasaki with the 



234 Southern Baptist Foreign Missions. 

Walnes in 1896 and helped to found the station 
there, working in connection with it for ten years. 
In the spring of 1906, he accepted a call from 
the church at Sasebo where he had helped to 
found an out-station ten years before. With an 
overpowering passion for souls, together with an 
affable and frank manner, he has been one of 
the most successful preachers connected with the 
Mission. 

The four men whose work has been sketched 
above, ail too briefly, were the only Japanese 
connected with the Mission during the first eight 
years of its existence. To their consecration and 
faithfulness the results which were achieved 
were largely due. The limitations of this sketch 
inake it necessary to omit references to the other 
faithful evangelists who have been connected 
with the Mission since 1900. 

Any story of Baptist work in Kyushu, how- 
ever, would be incomplete which did not include 
some account of the work of Eev. Yugora Chiba, 
who accepted an invitation from the Mission to 
come to the island in 1905. Mr. Chiba is a full 
graduate of Kochester Theological Seminary. 
For several years he taught in Duncan Academy, 
a Baptist Boys' School in Tokio, at the same time 
serving one of the churches of that city as pas- 
tor. When he received an invitation to come to 
Kyushu, he was the Dean of the female department 
of the Doshisha, the well known Congregational 
University at Kyoto. When he offered his resig- 



The Japan Mission. 235 

nation to the trustees of that institution, a strong 
effort was made to influence him to reconsider, 
but he replied that he was a Baptist and wanted 
to spend his life in connection with Baptist work. 
His coming to Kyushu could not have been more 
timely. The work was growing beyond the re- 
sources of the Mission. Working for a year as 
an evangelist at large, he helped to strengthen 
the weak places in the line of stations. , In the 
summer of 1906 upon the return of the Hamble- 
tons, he w^ent to Kagoshima to look after that im- 
portant field. In the fall of 1907, he was elected 
by unanimous vote of the Mission, and with ap- 
proval of the Board, President of the Fukuoka 
Baptist Theological Seminary, which position he 
has since filled with distinguished ability. 

We must mention also Kev. Y. Fujinuma, who 
worked for many years in connection with the 
A. B. M. U. mission. In 1908, he accepted a 
call from the Fukuoka church, which he is still 
serving acceptably as pastor. 

Until 1908 the straits of Shimonoseki formed 
the northern boundary of the field occupied by 
the missionaries of the Southern Board. On 
the northern side of the straits the Missionary 
Union had for many years carried on a work with 
the city of Shimonoseki as its main station. The 
nearest of the A. B. M. U. stations north of 
this was over 300 miles away, while it was sep- 
arated from the field of the Southern Board by 
only the width of the straits, less than a mile. 



236 Southern Baptist Foreign Missions. 

xlt a meeting in Shimonoseki in the fall of 
1908, between representatives of the Northern 
and Southern Missions, Dr. T. S. Barbour, For- 
eign Secretary of the Missionary Union, being 
present, an agreement was reached between the 
representatives of the two missions by which the 
Shimonoseki field was turned over to the South- 
ern Board, and the northern boundary of the 
field tQ be occupied by the latter was fixed so 
as to include the island of Shikoku and all of 
the territory south of the city of Hiroshima, on 
the main island. This new territory has a pop- 
ulation of over six millions, which, together with 
that of the island of Kyushu, gives a total pop- 
ulation of sixteen millions for the territory oc- 
cupied by the Mission of the Southern Board. 

During the first eight years covered by the 
work of the Mission in Kyushu, only one church 
was organized, the Moji church, which in 1899 
had a membership of seventy-five. All of the 
candidates baptized in other stations and out-sta- 
tions on the field were considered as members 
of this church. During the ten years which have 
followed seven more churches have been organized, 
which, together with the two taken over with 
the Shimonoseki field, make a total of ten churches 
now connected with the work of the Southern 
Mission. The total membership at the end of 
1909 was 504. During the past few years nearly 
as many people have been baptized every year 
as were received during the first eight years. 



The Japan Mission. 237 

There are at present connected with the Mission 
five ordained and seven unordained preachers and 
fifteen students preparing for the ministry. The 
churches contributed to their own support last 
year a little over one thousand dollars. 

Ten years ago the only chapel property owned 
by the Board in Japan was a little dilapidated 
hut in Fukuoka, to purchase which McCollum and 
Walne borrowed f 400 on their own responsibility. 
Since that time land has been purchased and 
neat, comfortable buildings erected at Moji, Fuku- 
oka, Kumamoto, Sasebo and Nagasaki. A good 
lot has also been secured at Kagoshima, and it is 
hoped the funds will soon be forthcoming for a 
chapel at this place, which is the only one of 
the mission stations not now supplied with this 
indispensable equipment for successful work. 
The missionaries who tried for so long to work 
with rented chapels which they held at the mercy 
of unfriendly landlords, record their gratitude 
to God and to those whose liberality supplied 
the means for securing these chapels. Including 
the two chapels purchased from the A. B. M. 
U. at the time of the transfer of the Shimonoseki 
field, the total number of church buildings now 
owned by the Southern Board in Japan is eight. 

In 1903 the Sunday School Board at Nashville 
made a gift of f 500 to the Foreign Mission Board 
to be used in opening a Bible and Christian book 
store at Nagasaki. E. N. Walne was placed in 
charge of this work, and the store was opened 



238 Southern Baptist Foreign Missions. 

in 1903, since which time its sales have averaged 
about |500 per year. With more capital this 
department of the work could be greatly enlarged. 
It is now in charge of J. H. Eowe. Owing to 
the lack of means, neither the Northern nor the 
Southern Missions have been able to do much 
in the way of publishing and circulating Chris- 
tian literature. The Japanese are a reading peo- 
ple. Their system of education has been so per- 
fected that in the next generation there will 
be practically no illiteracy in the country. The 
percentage of children of school age now in school 
is 96 per cent. The importance of greatly en- 
larging the literary department of Baptist work 
in Japan calls for the most serious consideration. 
Until the fall of 1907 the missionaries and their 
Japanese colleagues had devoted all of their time 
to evangelistic work, but as the work grew it 
became apparent that something must be done 
in the way of training up a native ministry for 
the churches which were multiplying. The Mis- 
sionary Union had had a Theological Seminary 
in Yokohama for years and efforts were made 
to combine the two Missions in the support of 
this school, but terms of union could not be agreed 
upon, and it was finally decided to start a Theo- 
logical Seminary at Fukuoka. The school was 
begun, in rented quarters, in the fall of 1907. 
Y. Chiba was appointed president and K. Sato, 
J. W. McCollum and E. N. Walne teachers. There 
were ten students in the first class. During the 



The Japan Mission. 239 

spring of the following year a tract of land, front- 
ing 450 feet on the moat of the old feudal castle, 
was secured and a building erected in time to 
provide a dormitory and class rooms for the 
next session's work. 

Negotiations were again opened and plans are 
now well under way, for the union of the Fu- 
kuoka and Yokohama schools into a new semi- 
nary to be located at Tokyo, the capital city of 
the Empire, and the chief educational center of 
the country. 

While Dr. and Mrs. Willingham were in Japan, 
P. P. Medling and wife of Tennessee were on their 
way to join the workers there and one other man, 
John Moncure of Virgina, was sent out later 
in response to the request for reinforcements. The 
former is located at Kagoshima and the latter 
is studying the language at Fukuoka. The entire 
force of missionaries now on the field is not suf- 
ficient for the work already organized and with- 
out reinforcements it will not be possible to oc- 
cupy the field for which the Mission has agreed 
to become responsible. 

It is fitting that this sketch of the Japan Mis- 
sion should close with a tribute to the memory 
of the man who founded its work and who con- 
tributed so largely to the results which have been 
achieved. Eeference has been made to the fail- 
ing health of Dr. J. W. McCollum. The early 
years of his service in Japan were attended by 
many hardships of which his vigorous manhood 



240 Southern Baptist Foreign Missions. 

and devoted spirit took little account, but it 
was during these years that he contracted an 
affection of the throat and lungs which greatly 
underminded his strength. The trouble was in- 
creased by his being forced to prolong his second 
term of service more than two years beyond the 
period fixed by the Board. Though he came back 
to Japan for a third term in 1896 throwing him- 
self without reservation into the work, which was 
in desperate need, his strength failed so rapidly 
that he was forced to return to America in the 
spring of 1899 and in February of the present 
year, in what should have been the prime of his 
strength and great usefulness, he passed away 
at Seattle, Wash. The following tribute was pen- 
ned by one of the two men who was associated 
with him in the work in Kyushu, almost from its 
beginning : 

"He was a rare character. He did not be- 
long to a whole class of men as one of the class ; 
he was in a class by himself. Those who knew 
him always admired him and nearly always agreed 
with him. As an evangelist he had few equals 
and no superiors. His knowledge and use of the 
Japanese language was as perfect as a foreigner 
ever attains to. The native preachers rarely drew 
as large congregations as he did. Our work in 
Kyushu would never have become what it is 
without his splendid services in its early years. 
Our hearts go out in tenderest sympathy to his 
bereaved family. Mrs. McCollum was in every 



The Japan Mission. 241 

way worthy of her husband and in losing her the 
Mission will sustain a severe loss. May God be 
with her and her children henceforth." 

May the hearts of Southern Baptists be so 
drawn to beautiful Japan and may so many 
willing hands be sent out to supply her great 
need that this splendid man may be the last 
of the workers to be cut off in the midst of his 
usefulness because of the unheeded call to "Come 
over and help us." 

The Japan Mission. 

1. Missionaries — 

(1) Foreign, 15. 

(2) Native, 14. 

2. Church Statistics— 

(1) Churches, 10. 

(2) Members, 504. 

(3) Church buildings, 8. 

(4) Out-stations, 11. 

(5) Sunday schools, 13. 

(6) Sunday school scholars, 617. 

3. Theological Seminary at Fukuoka. 

4. The Gospel Book Store at Nagasaki. 

5. Residences for missionaries owned by the Board, 5. 

CHRONOLOGICAL DATA. 

1853 A.D. — -Arrival of Commodore Perry. 

1859 A.D. — Arrival of first Protestant missionaries. 

1873 A.D. — Baptist work begun by the American Baptist 

Missionary Union. 
1889 A.D. — The Constitution proclaimed. Arrival of first 

Southern Baptist missionaries. 
1892 A.D. — Baptist work begun in Kyushu. 

16 



CHAPTER XII. 



THE ARGENTINE MISSION. 

If we measure off a strip of land twenty miles 
wide on the west bank of the river La Plata, 
beginning at the city La Plata on the south, 
and terminating at Santa Fe on the north, the 
strip would be only 300 miles long; and in it 
would be found one-half of the population of 
Argentina. Here very close together are situ- 
ated Buenos Aires, Eosario, Santa Fe, and La 
Plata. Around these cities there are many towns 
of from 5,000 to 20,000 inhabitants. This is the 
district in which we have worked since the open- 
ing of our mission in 1903. The cities are con- 
nected by ferryboat. 

DISTRICT OP PRESENT WORK. 

A more definite word about the cities in which 
we now work will not be out of place. Buenos 
Aires, the federal capital, sustains a unique re- 
lation to the country as a whole. Out of a pop- 
ulation of 6,000,000, 1,200,000 belong to Buenos 
Aires proper. This is an abnormal proportion 
of the population. 

(242) 



The Argentine Mission. 243 

The fact is that commercially Buenos Aires 
not only predominates but almost absorbs the 
activities of the country. Politically, her influ- 
ence is not so great. There is a certain feeling 
which is part jealousy and part national that 
does not accept readily the candidates nor the 
ideas that come from Buenos Aires. And yet 
the country takes a foolish pride in its capital 
and spends millions on its streets, public build- 
ings and parks. All find their pleasure in visits 
to Buenos Aires. The educational influence of 
the capital is very great. The public schools, 
which include the Buenos Aires University, with 
its academic, scientific, law, medical, philosophic, 
engineering and theological faculties, extend a 
wide influence. To these are to be added many 
private schools largely dedicated to the teaching 
of music and the foreign languages. The press 
is a strong educational factor. The daily papers 
and cheap magazines are widely read. Something 
like one hundred papers of different languages 
and objects are published in the city. 

The population of the city is half Italian, a 
little over one-third Argentine and Spanish, and 
the remaining fraction is made up of people from 
all lands. The Spanish language easily predom- 
inates, as do also Spanish thought and customs. 

In general features, Buenos Aires differs from 
other cities of the Eepublic only in the greater 
scale in which it is laid off. There are no 
slum districts. In all parts of the city live rich 



244 Southern Baptist Foreign Missions. 

and poor side by side. The houses are as a rule 
one story high. The blocks are one hundred and 
fifty yards square, and the houses are built out 
to the sidewalk, leaving no space for yard in 
front. On the inside of this shell of houses 
is a large space which may be used for back 
yards, but too often is used for some factory or 
lumber yard or deposit of some kind. There 
are many public parks and squares which add 
to the beauty of the city. The people love the 
open air and hence there is a splendid oppor- 
tunity in open air work. Every Sunday groups 
may be seen listening to the gospel in a dozen 
or more of these squares. The police protection 
is good and, as a rule, the people listen with 
due respect. Once a greater interest in the gos- 
pel is awakened, this open air work will pro- 
duce good results numerically. The "Once" 
church conducts one open air meeting which is 
encouraging. The city enjoys splendid street car 
service. This is a point in favor of the services 
because the distances are very great. Our mis- 
sion has preaching at six points in Buenos Aires 
and there are two organized churches. It is un- 
necessary to add that this is hardly a beginning 
if the city is to be reached. The whole federal 
district is being built up rapidly and there is 
urgent need for locating work in the western 
district where at present property could be had 
at a nominal price. Soon this territory will be 



The Argentine Mission. 245 

full and then the work will be correspondingly 
costly. 

The second city of the Republic in popula- 
tion, commercial importance and movement in 
general, is Eosario. Already it has a population 
of 165,000. It is a liberal city and hence ex- 
cellent as a center of missionary activity. The 
Catholic influence is not so great here as in 
other places. Socialism in the Republic has its 
head in Rosario. This does not help gospel work 
any except in that the field is open wide to 
tracts and public conferences. Here we have 
two churches and four out-stations. Largely 
through the hard work of Brother R. S. Hosford,, 
we also have two houses of worship. One is a 
new brick chapel and the other is a modest wood 
structure. The chapel has a seating capacity of 
300. Also we own the portable iron and wood 
chapel which was formerly on the site of the 
present brick building. Brother Hosford is plan- 
ning to put this chapel on a new site and the 
lot is already selected. Rosario covers a larger 
space than its population would indicate and 
hence it is very necessary to locate a number of 
preaching halls to reach well the people. The 
buildings mentioned all belong to the Second 
Church. 

Santa Fe, the capital of the province of the 
same name, is a city of 45,000 inhabitants, and 
Parana, just across the river, has 35,000. Santa 
Fe is very active commercially and will soon have 



246 Southern Baptist Foreign Missions. 

an excellent port. The terminus of the new Bo- 
livian railroad is to be at Santa Fe, which will 
add very much to its importance as a railroad 
center. The Catholic influence is very great, so 
much so that some thought that Brother Fowler 
had made a mistake in going there. The result 
has been splendid. Brother Osterman, a French- 
man and a Baptist, had struggled along here 
for years without getting hold of more than a 
dozen members. He at once began to cooperate 
with our work and the combined efforts have pro- 
duced excellent results. There are now two 
churches with some forty members each. Becently 
a church has been organized at Parana, just 
across the river, consisting of nine members, seven 
of which were baptized on the 22nd of Febru- 
ary and two coming by letter. Our work is 
practically all that is being done on the Santa 
Fe side of the river. The Methodists also work 
in Parana. 

La Plata, as indicated, marks the beginning on 
the south of the district of denser population. 
It is only one hour and twenty minutes by train 
from Buenos Aires. The population, which is 
rapidly growing, numbered last year 87,000. 
There is a good port, which, added to its being 
the capital of the province of Buenos Aires, gives 
the city importance. The overflow from Buenos 
Aires has already reached La Plata. This last 
element will continue to augment the growth in 
population. Our mission has a fine opportunity 



The Argentine Mission. 2A7 

to enter La Plata because of work done by Brother 
Besson, who planted a congregation there fifteen 
years ago. In recent years this congregation has 
been cared for by Brother W. D. Smart. The con- 
gregation is some fifty strong and desires to be- 
long to our convention. 

While the above mentioned district deserves 
special mention on account of its denser popu- 
lation, it would be a great mistake to overlook 
the interior of the country. This pause of the 
mass of the people on the river front is for a 
breathing spell to gather strength for the conquest 
of the vast and rich interior. Here important 
cities already exist. Bahia Blanca is attracting 
much attention and doubtless will continue to 
be the largest city of the southern part of the 
country. It is a good port and has extensive 
railroad connections. Tucuman lies in the north 
and is the center of the sugar industry, which 
means to say that the surrounding districts are 
agricultural and hence more thickly populated. 
Cordoba is directly west of Bosario. It is an 
old city and for many years the university cen- 
ter. These schools still flourish, but the univer- 
sity at Buenos Aires at present enjoys more pres- 
tige. Mendoza is far out to the West in the 
grape district. The tunnel through the Andes 
recently opened will greatly favor Men- 
doza. It deserves the immediate attention of 
some good worker. These are the largest cities 
of the interior, but there are many other cities 



248 Southern Baptist Foreign Missions. 

and towns of from 5,000 to 15,000 inhabitants. 
In the vast grazing region little can be done at 
present. The people are too much scattered. 

Catholic Influence. 

The country, as a whole, is most decidedly 
Catholic. This condition is not much changed 
by immigration as the overwhelming majority 
of the immigrants are also Catholic, and often 
even more fanatic than the Argentines. Buenos 
Aires is one of the most Catholic cities of the 
world. Other strong Catholic centers are Cor- 
doba, the old university center, and Santa Fe, 
a Jesuit stronghold. The country districts are 
uniformly fanatic. 

There are four well known virgins, but the 
two that exercise the widest influence are the 
Virgin of Lujan, whose chapel is in the province 
of Buenos Aires, and the Virgin of Catamarca, 
who performs her miracles in the mountains to 
the north. These virgins exercise a wide influ- 
ence in the country. At certain times, 10,000 peo- 
ple go to Lujan in one day from Buenos Aires. 
One meets constantly the proofs of the virgin's 
influence. A concrete example may serve to il- 
lustrate: One day I was inviting a woman to 
attend our services, but she held up her hands 
in horror and said this would displease the Vir- 
gin of Lujan to whom she had made vows and 
in consequence had been cured of rheumatism. 




National Congress. Buenos Aires, Argentina 



The Argentine Mission. 249 

When I insisted that she attend she finally 
showed me her feet, which were all drawn, and 
said, "I cannot walk because I suffer so from rheu- 
matism." This is a fair sample of the quality 
of this famous virgin's miracles. A word as to 
the origin of this virgin may be of interest. The 
Catholic Church teaches the following as to her 
beginning: Years ago, before the days of rail- 
roads in this country, when all the freight had 
to be moved by carts drawn by oxen, some men 
were hauling boxes of goods from Buenos Aires 
to a point in the country, when they discov- 
ered, upon unloading, a box too heavy to be 
moved. They called in additional help, but all 
attempts failed to move it. Finally they opened 
the box and found the present Virgin of Lujan. 
They took this discovery, together with the enor- 
mous weight of the box, to indicate beyond all 
question of doubt that the virgin wanted to be 
located there. It is needless to say that her will 
was speedily complied with. 

This adoration of the virgin is not confined 
to the poorer classes. In fact, just the reverse 
is largely true. It has come to be a social obli- 
gation to go at least once each year to Lujan, and 
the higher circles do not refuse to go, 

The social influence is so mixed with the relig- 
ious that it is hard to distinguish between the 
two, but it would be perfectly safe to say that 
even with reference to the ordinances, baptism 
and communion, the social is the greater influence. 



250 Southern Baptist Foreign Missions. 

The funerals are distinctly social and are pub- 
lished in the social columns of the papers. The 
result of all this is that when Eome has no fur- 
ther hold religiously, she maintains herself 
through social relations. Wholly irreligious peo- 
ple are whipped into line and made to christen 
their children, prepare them for first communion, 
and also pay for costly funerals and masses by 
social obligation. For social reasons the large 
majority will not enter any evangelistic service; 
so this influence is sufficient to prevent their hear- 
ing the gospel. The people who are religious at 
heart make the best hearers and are the first to 
accept Christ. In every case, when converted, 
they testify that when they devoted their whole 
attention to the Komish ceremonies, they did not 
even understand that there was such a thing as 
the new birth. Moral responsibility does not 
seem to be associated with religious thought. 
This fact is the sad end of the story for Eome. 
The people who have followed her will have to 
hear the gospel from others. 

A man from the province of Tucuman told the 
following in justification of his devotion to the 
Virgin of Catamarca: "A man, riding across 
the plain, fell with his horse into a well and 
sank 400 meters in the water where he remained 
four days. In this condition he made a vow to 
the virgin of the region that if she would save 
him, he would tie a ribbon on her statue. The 
virgin saved him, the man fulfilled his vow, and 



The Argentine Mission. 251 

the ribbon is still tied to the statue and was 
seen by me." Such stories are accepted as true 
and the minds of the people are full of the like. 
The most insignificant happenings are held as 
being miracles of virgins or saints. 

The vitiated taste for marvelous stories makes 
it hard to write an acceptable tract. Our stories 
are tame in comparison with those recounted in 
the books and leaflets of the priests. The Sacred 
History, the title of a book used to teach the chil- 
dren, combines with a few Bible stories, given 
in changed form, a large number of stories of 
saints and pretended miracles. The volume is 
so false that it does not produce any good fruit 
at all, and those who become interested in the 
gospel have great difficulty in unlearning all this 
rubbish. The theatres also have contributed to 
the general confusion, for pretended sacred scenes 
are often displayed and the incorrect pictures fill 
the minds with error as to historical points. 

The only cure for this is the study of the Bible 
itself. It is beautiful to see how those moved by 
the Holy Spirit read the Bible, once they have 
it, with the greatest eagerness, and they find in it 
a rest to their souls. As an illustration of this, 
a case which does not differ from scores of others 
may be cited: Four months ago Senor Doblado, 
a member of our church and colporteur of the 
American Bible Society, sold the Bible to a 
young man who can read very little. The young 
fellow was impressed by what Brother Doblado 



252 Southern Baptist Foreign Missions. 

told him about the gospel and came to the serv- 
ices of the church. After two months he pro- 
fessed conversion and has spelled out the gospels 
of Matthew and Mark amid the ridicule of his 
fellow- workmen. The fine young fellow told me 
with his face all aglow that the Bible was reason- 
able in all that it said. This remark meant, as 
he at once explained, that his soul had been 
starved on impossible tales. 

The Bible does not exist in the land except 
for the copies already sold or given away by mis- 
sionary agencies. Preaching must be done, there- 
fore, to wholly untaught hearers, or else to hearers 
who attach absolutely no value to the Bible over 
other books. The Commandments of God have 
no weight and the labor of prophets and apos- 
tles is lost to them because ignored. The con- 
science, the last resort of the preacher, is so dead- 
ened by false teaching and false standards of 
morals that too often the most earnest appeals 
are answered with a vacant stare or by the favor- 
ite reply of those who make fun, "Macanas" (tom- 
foolery). The last is the attitude of that large 
number of people disgusted with Komish forms 
and ceremonies who do not care to hear more of 
Christianity in any form. The appalling indiffer- 
ence which exists is largely due to the fact that 
Christ, as seen through the Pope, has lost his 
drawing power. 



The Argentine Mission. 253 

The Stage of Evangelistic Work. 

Thus far very few have been reached. It* is 
also true that comparatively little work has been 
done. With the exception of the work of the 
Methodists, the missions are all new. The con- 
gregations are small and the work consists, in 
the main, of visits and studies. Some of the 
best opportunities for Bible study are found in 
the homes where interest has been awakened after 
repeated visits. In this house to house work 
entrance is not always possible, but enough re- 
ceive the worker kindly to make this method very 
fruitful. Without such visiting, even a gifted 
speaker cannot maintain a congregation. In the 
work of our mission the constant aim has been 
to provide a room in as many districts as pos- 
sible and to use these rooms for regular services 
and studies. These rooms are very necessary be- 
cause of the limited space occupied by the fam- 
ilies and hence the impossibility often of a study 
in the home. Some have the courage to come to 
these rooms or halls who are not willing to 
brave the criticism of friends and relatives at 
home. Working thus, with few people, the train- 
ing is more thorough and a very close relation 
is formed with each one. The ties of affection 
are precious beyond expression. The attendance 
is so small that even in the larger halls, fifty or 
sixty is considered a satisfactory congregation. 
We pray and look constantly for a more general 



254 Southern Baptist Foreign Missions. 

awakening and interest in the gospel. The at- 
tendance improves as more acquaintances are 
made, but it grows by inches. 

Impurity and lying are the great national sins. 
The Wee of drink is also growing and the liquors 
consumed are stronger and more deadly than 
those known to North Americans. The wines that 
were once much used are being replaced by liquors 
made of sugar cane and by whiskey that too often 
bears an English stamp. The work and progress 
of the gospel consequently are slow. 

The work is complicated and made more diffi- 
cult by the large amount of false teaching that 
has come into the country at the same time with 
the gospel. All the isms that have grown up at 
home and in Europe have been and are being in- 
troduced into Argentina. 

The gospel has to compete with these before an 
untrained people. As none of these errors de- 
mand a change in moral conduct, their different 
theories are readily accepted. Many of the advo- 
cates of these theories pretend to be friends of 
the gospel workers, so much so that hardly a 
day passes in which he does not have to defend 
himself against some form of occultism or the- 
osophy. The country is about to fall into the 
hands of faith healers. An untrained congregation 
is at the mercy of these smooth-tongued fellows. 
The only safe course will be to train w T ell the 
converts. Error may take a quick hold, but it 
cannot stand against serious Bible study. 



The Argentine Mission. 255 

The type of the larger number of conversions 
is well represented in Manuel Vasquez, the first 
one converted in the Once station. This man 
ran a little barber shop a few squares from the 
preaching hall and while he had lost all con- 
fidence in Home, he still retained something of 
a religious sentiment in his heart. His life was 
very sinful and he was unhappy. One night he 
attended the services partly out of curiosity and 
partly with a real desire to know what we taught. 
The same night he became sufficiently interested 
to ask for a study at my home. He at once bought 
a Bible and for several weeks continued to study. 
He was so aroused that he soon began to attend 
services regularly and after two months was con- 
verted. On the organization of the church, he 
was elected clerk which office he faithfully holds 
still, and in every way he is one of our most use- 
ful members. 

Another type of a class not so large is shown 
in the case of Eamona Garcia, who had a vege- 
table stall in a market and was so devoted to the 
virgin that she left her post every morning to 
go to the church. But prayers to the virgin did 
not keep her from cheating in her sales. One day, 
she heard a gospel sermon and was at once 
touched by the spirit. In her beautiful testimony 
she said: "After that I never could sell as fresh 
vegetables, those that were two or three days 
old." This woman says that her prayers when a 
Bomanist were directed wholly to the virgin. 



256 Southern Baptist Foreign Missions. 

There are a few like the case of a man in Santa 
Fe. He was violent in his home and reviled all 
religions thought. First his daughter began to 
attend Brother Fowler's service. The man was 
furious at the idea, but finally he, himself, not 
knowing why, began to attend. Almost at once 
he was converted and made a public confession 
of faith. His whole frame trembled and Brother 
Fowler had to sustain him to prevent his falling. 
It was a sudden conversion of a man who up to 
the time, seemingly, was wholly contrary to all re- 
ligious thought. 

Native Helpers. 

Surely native helpers cannot be more useful 
on any field than on ours. This is a cultured 
country, and the attractiveness of the speaker sig- 
nifies a great deal. The Argentine always has 
an advantage over the foreigner in his superior 
knowledge of the language and customs. The 
right kind of a native helper is invaluable in get- 
ting into the homes and in winning the confidence 
of the people. 

Our first native helper was Maximino Fernan- 
dez who attracted attention by his evident call 
to the ministry. During one year he worked with 
the brethren at Bosario, receiving nothing except 
his board which was given him by the Harts and 
Spights. The young fellow proved such an addi- 
tion to the work that the Board accepted him as 



The Argentine Mission. 257 

a native helper. Fernandez has grown into the 
work rapidly and is at present capable of taking 
charge of an idependent post. Soon other young 
men began to give proof of a call to the work, 
and having the success of the first as a stimulus, 
we have asked for six helpers and two pastors. 
The pastors are Brothers Juan C. Varetto and Al- 
berto Osterman. These two came to us as a result 
of Brother Besson's work. It is also true that 
Brother Graham, an Englishman, had given Va- 
retto a splendid four year's training in academic 
and theological subjects. Both of these pastors 
made a fine record in baptisms last year. Brother 
Ostermann baptized twenty-one, which was the 
largest number baptized at any one point in our 
mission. Furthermore the quality of their work 
seems entirely satisfactory. None of the six 
young men who have been in training under our 
own workers have been given an entirely inde- 
pendent work yet, but Fernandez and Yebra will 
soon have to take this responsibility. They are 
successful preachers and ought to make good pas- 
tors. Thus far the training of the young men 
has been in the hands of the missionary with 
whom each one works. The teaching of them has 
taken time, but as a recompense, the young men 
assist with the visiting, teaching of members and 
in preaching. All of these young fellows are 
bright and as is true of the people in general, are 
especially quick in imitation. For this reason the 
system of educating the new by close contact with 

17 



258 Southern Baptist Foreign Missions. 

more experienced workers, promises good results. 
The only serious drawback is that our mistakes 
seem to be the first points imitated. For example, 
the young man who works with me is beginning 
to preach and invariably holds up the index finger 
just as I do when making a gesture. As a rule 
the Argentine is attractive as a speaker, and what 
is better by far, he is not wanting in sterling 
worth. 

The richness of the Spanish literature makes it 
possible for the native helper to inform himself 
very well indeed without the knowledge of a for- 
eign tongue. The Spanish affords good histories, 
biographies and books on general subjects. It is 
true that there is little on theology, but the list of 
works translated on this line is growing con- 
stantly. Naturally, many of the works are written 
from a Eomish standpoint. However, a few of 
our best religious books have been published in 
Spanish. "Pilgrim's Progress" has been received 
with great favor. Our two native pastors both 
read French, which is a great help to them. 
Brother Varetto also reads English and trans- 
lates beautifully from English to Spanish. While 
it is a great help to know some language rich in 
religious literature, still the Argentine who works 
faithfully in Spanish will not be an ignorant 
pastor. 



The Argentine Mission. 259 

Our Growth. 

Thus far we have organized seven churches, as 
has been seen. The total membership at this 
writing is 270. The Constitution church in 
Buenos Aires, the first organized, leads in member- 
ship, with fifty-three on the roll. The growth on 
the whole field has been very uniform. No church 
has grown rapidly, but each has enjoyed a steady 
gain. At every point much attention has been 
devoted to the training of the converts. While 
each station would make an interesting study in 
itself, the conditions are so similar that it will 
hardly be profitable to carry the reader through 
the whole story of the working, praying, and wait- 
ing at each point before seeing a single conversion. 
It has been true in practically every opening that 
the first visible fruits have come after one whole 
year of sowing and cultivation. 

The uniform growth at all points has greatly 
added to the solidity of the work and has given 
room for a most delightful rivalry, which pleases 
most when it is known that the other point has 
enjoyed greater blessing still. The joy and happi- 
ness of a good, hard pull together has character- 
ized the work thus far. We are praying for a 
more abundant harvest, for an awakening of inter- 
est in the gospel, which will open the doors to the 
homes of the people. Thus far we have had to 
work in the streets and conventillos (houses so 
arranged that many families live around an open 



260 Southern Baptist Foreign Missions. 

court, the main entrance of which is open by day 
to anyone who cares to enter). Working thus, 
we have been able to reach only the poorest people. 
They make up in willingness to give what they 
lack in means. The members are very much in- 
terested in helping the noble group of Baptist 
brethren in Chili. They also give well to local 
expenses. Last year, taking the whole member- 
ship of the churches, the contributions of the year 
amounted to ten dollars (gold) per member. It 
is not easy to teach the grace of giving, and some 
do not give, but we are trying to start off with 
something of the independent spirit, or at least 
with the spirit of sharing in the expenses. Be- 
sides the halls occupied by the seven churches, we 
have preaching in ten other halls. Just about half 
of the expenses of the out-stations is borne by the 
churches. 

Sunday school work offers difficulties which are 
hard to surmount. The parents are too much in- 
fluenced by relatives and friends to allow their 
children to attend. About the only children we 
have in the six schools opened are those of con- 
verted parents. Competent teachers are hard to 
find, but when a class has a good teacher it nearly 
always keeps up in attendance. Our six schools 
show some two hundred enrolled. 

The work in Argentina continues to be largely 
personal — that is to say, very few attend the 
public services who were not first cultivated by 
some worker. 



The Argentine Mission. 261 

We are working in a rich country and one with 
a great future. Its being rich means that living 
is expensive and the cost of work in general con- 
stitutes a real difficulty. At the same time it 
ought to be one of the very first countries to be- 
come self-sustaining. We are doing our best to 
train the members of our churches to depend upon 
themselves and contribute to the support of the 
work. The statistical tables will show that some- 
thing is being accomplished in this respect. It 
is the most decided opinion of the writer that the 
present cost of work in Argentina ought not to 
be a reason for doing less work in the republic. 

The only solution of one big item of expense, 
that of rents, will be found in building our own 
chapels. The necessity of owning property is so 
great that the matter ought to be kept constantly 
in mind by all concerned. It pays to own prop- 
erty here, for the rents are out of proportion to 
the cost of the land and houses. But the economy 
of it is not even the greater gain. The fact is 
that suitable accommodations cannot be had ; and 
the time of missionaries and native helpers is 
unprofitably used because of this want of accom- 
modations. We here on the field ought to do our 
part toward this expense of building; but the 
Board, in most cases, will have to take the larger 
share of the burden. With buildings the work 
will take on a different form. 

The last word is, that while growth has not been 
rapid, the work is in every way encouraging. 



262 Southern Baptist Foreign Missions. 

Argentina is an important country, destined in 
the near future to be much more important. This 
land, so rich in other respects, sorely needs the 
gospel of the Son of God to enrich its moral impor- 
tance. 

The Argentine Mission. 

1. In Buenos Aires — 

(1) Eight missionaries. 

(2) Constitution Church. 

(3) Once Church. 

(4) Three out-stations. 

(5) Printing plant. 

(6) "Expositor Baptista" (monthly paper). 

2. In Rosario — 

(1) Four missionaries. 

(2) First Church. 

(3) North Church. 

(4) Three out-stations. 

3. In Santa Fe— 

(1) Two missionaries. 

(2) Church at 25 de Mayo. 

(3) Church at 4 de Enero. 

(4) Four out-stations. 

4. Summary of Statistics — 

(1) Churches, 7. 

(2) Church buildings, 2. 

(3) Members, 270. 

(4) Out-stations, 10. 

(5) Sunday schools, 6. 

(6) Sunday school scholars, 195. 

(7) Missionaries — 

(a) Foreign, 14. 

(b) Native, 9. 

5. Work opened 1903. 



Appendix. 263 



APPENDIX A. 



BIBLIOGRAPHY. 

1. On the General Subject. 

(1) The Morning Hour of American Baptist Missions. 

By A. L. Vail. Price, $1.25. 

(2) The Missionary Work of the Southern Baptist 

Convention. By Mary Emily Wright. Price, 
75 cents. 

(3) The Highway of Mission Thought. By T. B. Ray. 

Price, 75 cents. 

2. On the Countries. 

(1) The Uplift of China. By A. H. Smith. Price, 58 

cents. 

(2) Sunrise in the Sunrise Kingdom (Japan). By J. 
H. De Forest. Price, 58 cents. 

(3) South America : Its Mission Problems. By T. B. 

Neeley. Price, 58 cents. 

(4) Daybreak in the Dark Continent (Africa). By 

W. S. Naylor. Price, 58 cents. 

(5) The Yoruba Country. By S. G. Pinnock. Price, 

20 cents. 

(6) Italy and the Italians. By G. B. Taylor. Price, 

68 cents. 

(7) On a Mexican Ranch. By Alice Duggan. Price, 

50 cents. 

3. Biographies. 

(1) William Carey. By Smith. Price, $1.50; by 

Myers, 75 cents ; by Farwell, 30 cents. 

(2) Adoniram Judson. by his son. Price, 90 cents; 

by Johnston, 30 cents. 



264 Southern Baptist Foreign Missions. 

(3) The Story of Yates, the Missionary. By C. E. 

Taylor. Price, 50 cents. 

(4) George Boardman Taylor. By his son. Price, $1.50. 



APPENDIX B. 



"ELICIT, COMBINE, DIRECT." 

It is interesting to note the source from which came 
the words, "elicit, combine, direct," which appear in the 
Preamble to the Constitutions of both the Triennial Con- 
vention and the Southern Baptist Convention, and which 
express so admirably the genius of our organization. 
These words were used first by Rev. William B. Johnson 
in an address issued December 17, 1813, by the Savannah 
Baptist Society for Foreign Missions, of which Dr. 
Johnson was then President. Dr. Johnson wrote this 
address, which was issued "to the inhabitants of Georgia 
and adjacent parts of South Carolina." After setting forth 
the general situation and the Judson-Rice story, it an- 
nounces the proposed Convention "in some central situa- 
tion of the United States for the purpose of organizing an 
efficient and practical plan on which the energies of the 
whole Baptist denomination throughout America may be 
elicited, comb^ed, and directed in one sacred effort for 

sending the word of life to idolatrous lands 

What a sublime spectacle will this Convention present! 
A numerous body of the Lord's people, embracing in their 
connection between one and two hundred thousand souls, 
all rising in obedience to their Lord, and meeting by dele- 
gation in one august assembly, solemnly to engage in one 
sacred effort for effectuating the great command, 'Go ye 
therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them into the 
name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost ; teaching them 



Appendix. 



265 



to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you, 
and lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the 
world/ " 

Dr. Johnson was the representative of Georgia at the 
Convention in Philadelphia, which organized the Trien- 
nial Convention. He served on the Committee which 
drafted the Constitution. It is easy, therefore, to trace 
the origin of these historic words. 

Dr. Johnson had the distinction of being the President 
of the Triennial Convention from 1841 to 1845, and of 
being elected the first President of the Southern Baptist 
Convention. 



APPENDIX C. 



NAMES OF DELEGATES TO THE FIRST TRIENNIAL 
CONVENTION, PHILADELPHIA, MAY 18, 1814. 



Massachusetts. 



New York. 



Rev. Thomas Baldwin, D.D. 

Rev. Lucius Bolles, A.M. 

Rev. Stephen Gano, A.M. Rhode Island. 

Rev. John Williams, A.M. 

Mr. Thomas Hewitt _-_- 

Mr. Edward Probyn _. 

Mr. Nathaniel Smith 

Rev. Burgiss Allison, D.D. 

Rev. Richard Proudf oot _„_ 

Rev. Josiah Stratton 

Rev. William Boswell 

Rev. Henry Smalley, A.M. 

Mr. Mathew Randall - T 

Mr. John Sisty 

Mr. Stephen Ustick 



>-New Jersey. 



266 Southern Baptist Foreign Missions. 



Rev. William Rogers, D.D 1 

Rev. Henry Holcombe, D.D. j 

Rev. William Staughton, D.D.. 
Rev. William White, A.M. 
Rev. John 
Rev. Horatio G. Jones. 

Rev. Silas Hough 

Rev. Joseph Mathias _ 

Rev. Daniel Dodge ".Delaware. 



[am White, A.M. I 

P. Peckworth Pennsylvania 



Rev. Lewis Richards 
Rev. Thomas Brooke 



y Maryland. 
Rev. Luther Rice, A.M. Dist. Columbia. 



Rev. Robert B. Semple | . 

Rev. Jacob Grigg | Virginia. 

Rev. James A. Ranaldson North Carolina. 

Rev. Richard Furman, D.D. _ ) 

Hon. Mathias B. Tallmadge ^ South Carolina. 

Rev. W. B. Johnson Georgia. 

APPENDIX D. 



CONSTITUTION OF THE TRIENNIAL CONVENTION. 

"We, the delegates from Missionary Societies, and 
other religious bodies of the Baptist denomination, in 
various parts of the United States, met in Convention, in 
the city of Philadelphia, for the purpose of carrying into 
effect the benevolent intentions of our constituents, by 
organizing a plan for eleciting, combining, and directing 
the energies of the whole denomination in one sacred 
effort for sending the glad tidings of salvation to the 
heathen, and to nations destitute of pure Gospel light, do 
agree to the following rules as fundamental principles, 
viz. : 



Appendix. 267 

"I. That this body shall be styled 'The General Mis- 
sionary Convention of the Baptist Denomination in the 
United States of America for Foreign Missions.' 

"II. That a Triennial Convention shall, hereafter, be 
held, consisting of delegates, not exceeding two in num- 
ber, from each of the several Missionary Societies, and 
other religious bodies of the Baptist denomination, now 
existing or which may hereafter be formed in the United 
States, and which shall each regularly contribute to the 
general missionary fund a sum amounting at least to one 
hundred dollars per annum. 

"III. That for necessary transaction and despatch of 
business, during the recess of the said Convention, there 
shall be a Board of twenty-one Commissioners, who shall 
be members of the said Societies, Churches, or other 
religious bodies aforesaid, triennially appointed by the 
said Convention, by ballot, to be called the 'Baptist Board 
of Foreign Missions for the United States,' seven of 
whom shall be a quorum for the transaction of all busi- 
ness ; and which Board shall continue in office until suc- 
cessors be duly appointed ; and shall have power to make 
and adopt by-laws for the government of the said Board, 
and for the furtherance of the general objects of the 
Institution. 

"IV. That it shall be the duty of this Board to employ 
missionaries, and, if necessary, to take measures for the 
improvement of their qualifications ; to fix on the field 
of their labors, and the compensation to be allowed them 
for their services ; to superintend their conduct, and dis- 
miss them, should their services be disapproved ; to pub- 
lish accounts, from time to time, of the Board's transac- 
tions, and an annual address to the public; to call a 
special meeting of the Convention on any extraordinary 
occasion, and, in general, to conduct the executive part of 
the missionary concern. 

"V. That only such persons as are in full communion 
with some regular church of our denomination, and who 



268 Southern Baptist Foreign Missions. 

furnish satisfactory evidences of genuine piety, good tal- 
ents, and fervent zeal for the Redeemer's cause, are to be 
employed as missionaries. 

"VI. That the Board shall choose, by ballot, one Presi- 
dent, two Vice-Presidents, a Treasurer, a Corresponding 
and a Recording Secretary. 

"VII. That the President, or in case of his absence or 
disability, the senior Vice-President, shall preside in all 
meetings of the Board, and when application shall be 
made in writing, by any two of its members, shall call a 
special meeting of the Board, giving due notice thereof. 

"VIII. That the Treasurer shall receive and faithfully 
account for all moneys paid into the treasury, keep a reg- 
ular account of receipts and disbursements, make a report 
thereof to the said Convention, whenever it shall be m 
session, and to the Board of Missions annually, and as 
often as by them required. He shall also, before he 
enters on the duties of his office, give competent security to 
be approved of by the Board, for the stock and funds 
that may be committed to his care. 

"IX. That the Corresponding Secretary shall main- 
tain intercourse by letter with such individuals, societies, 
or public bodies as the interests of the institution may re- 
quire. Copies of all communications made by the partic- 
ular direction of the Convention or Board, shall be by 
him handed to the Recording Secretary, for record and 
safe keeping. 

"X. That the Recording Secretary shall, ex officio, be 
the Secretary of the Convention, unless some other be by 
them appointed in his stead. He shall attend all the 
meetings of the Board, and keep a fair record of all their 
proceedings, and of the transactions of the Convention. 

"XI. That in case of the death, resignation, or disabil- 
ity of any of its officers, or members, the Board shall 
have power to fill such vacancy. 

"XII. That the said Convention shall have power, and 
in the interval of their meeting, the Board of Commis- 



Appendix. 269 

sioners, on the recommendation of any one of the con- 
stituent bodies belonging to the Convention, shall also 
have power to elect honorary members of piety and dis- 
tinguished liberality, who, on their election, shall be 
entitled to a seat, and to take part in the debates of the 
Convention ; but it shall be understood that the right of 
voting shall be confined to the delegates. 

"XIII. That in case any of the constituent bodies shall 
be unable to send representatives to the said Convention, 
they shall be permitted to vote by proxy, which proxy 
shall be appointed by writing. 

"XIV. That any alterations, which experience may 
dictate from time to time, may be made in these articles, 
at the regular meeting of the Convention, by two-thirds 
of the members present." 



APPENDIX E 



CONSTITUTION OF SOUTHERN BAPTIST CONVEN- 
TION, AS ORIGINALLY ADOPTED AT THE TIME 
OF ORGANIZATION, IN 1845, AND 
WHICH, WITH SLIGHT MODIFICA- 
TION, IS STILL OPERATVE. 



Preamble and Constitution of the Southern Baptist 
Convention. 

"We, the delegates from Missionary Societies, Churches, 
and other religious bodies of the Baptist Denomination, 
in various parts of the United States, met in Convention, 
in the city of Augusta, Ga., for the purpose of carrying 
into effect the benevolent intentions of our constituents, 
by organizing a plan for eliciting, combining and directing 



270 Southern Baptist Foreign Missions. 

the energies of the whole denomination in one sacred 
effort, for the propagation of the Gospel, agree to the 
following rules, or fundamental principles: 

"Akticle I. This body shall be styled the Southern 
Baptist Convention. 

"Art. II. It shall be the design of this Convention to 
promote Foreign and Domestic Missions, and other im- 
portant objects connected with the Redeemer's kingdom, 
and to combine for this purpose, such portions of the 
Baptist denomination in the United States, as may desire 
a general organization for Christian benevolence, which 
shall fully respect the independence and equal rights of 
the Churches. 

"Art. III. A Trienial Convention shall consist of 
members who contribute funds, or are delegated by relig- 
ious bodies contributing funds, and the system of repre- 
sentation and terms of membership shall be as follows, 
viz. : An annual contribution of one hundred dollars for 
three years next preceding the meeting, or the contribu- 
tion of three hundred dollars at any time within said 
three years, shall entitle the contributor to one representa- 
tive; an annual contribution of two hundred dollars, as 
aforesaid, shall entitle the contributor to two representa- 
tives ; and so, for each additional one hundred dollars, an 
additional representative shall be allowed. Provided, 
however, that when application shall be made for the 
first time by bodies, or individuals, to be admitted into 
the Convention, one delegate shall be allowed for each 
one hundred dollars. And provided, also, that in case of 
great collateral Societies, composed of representatives, 
receiving contributions from different parts of the coun- 
try, the ratio of representation shall be one delegate for 
every thousand dollars, annually contributed for three 
years, as aforesaid ; but the number of representatives 
shall never exceed five. 

"Art. IV. The officers of this Convention shall be a 
President, four Vice-Presidents, a Treasurer, and two 



Appendix. 271 

Secretaries, who shall be elected at each triennial meeting 
and hold their offices until a new election; and the 
officers of the Convention shall be, each oy virtue of his 
office, members of the several Boards. 

"Art. V. The Convention shall elect at each triennial 
meeting as many Boards of Managers, as in its judgment 
will be necessary for carrying out the benevolent objects 
it may determine to promote, all which Boards shall con- 
tinue in office until a new election. Each Board shall 
consist of a President, Vice Presidents, Secretaries, Treas- 
urer, Auditor, and fifteen other members, seven of whom, 
including one or more of the officers, shall form a quorum 
for the transaction of business. To each Board shall be 
committed, during the recess of the Convention, the entire 
management of all the affairs relating to the object with 
whose interest it shall be charged, all which management 
shall be in strict accordance with the constitutional pro- 
visions adopted by this Convention, and such other in- 
structions as may be given from time to time. Each 
Board shall have power to make such compensation to its 
Secretaries and Treasurer, as it may think right ; fill the 
vacancies occurring in its own body; enact its own by- 
laws; have an annual meeting at any place it may 
appoint, and other meetings at such times and places as 
it may think best ; keep a record of its proceedings and 
present a report of them to the Convention at each tri- 
ennial meeting. 

"Art. VI. The Treasurer of each Board shall faithfully 
account for all moneys received by him, keep a regular 
entry of all receipts and disbursements, and make report 
of them to the Convention, whenever it shall be in session, 
and to his Board as often as required. He shall also, on 
entering upon the duties of his office, give competent 
security to the President of his Board, for all the stock 
and funds committed to his care. His books shall be 
open at all times, to the inspection of any member of the 
Convention and of his Board. No moneys shall be paid 



272 Southern Baptist Foreign Missions. 

out of any of the Treasuries of the Boards, but by an 
order from that Board, from whose Treasury the money 
is to be drawn, which order shall be signed by its pre- 
siding officer. 

"Art. VII. The Corresponding Secretaries of the sev- 
eral Boards shall maintain intercourse by letter, with 
such individuals or public bodies, as the interests of their 
respective bodies may require. Copies of all such commu- 
nications, with their answers, if any, shall be kept by 
them on file. 

"Abt. VIII. The Recording Secretaries of the several 
Boards shall keep a fair record of their proceedings, and 
of suck other documents as may be committed to them 
for the purpose. 

"Abt. IX. All the Officers, Boards, Missionaries and 
Agents, appointed by the Convention, or by any of its 
Boards, shall be members of some regular Church, in 
union with the Churches composing this Convention. 

"Art. X. Missionaries appointed by any of the Boards 
of this Convention must, previous to their appointment, 
furnish evidence of genuine piety, fervent zeal in their 
Master's cause, and talents which fit them for the service 
for which they offer themselves. 

"Art. XI. The bodies and individuals, composing this 
Convention, shall have the right to specify the object, or 
objects, to which their contributions shall be applied. 
But when no such specification is made, the Convention 
will make the appropriation at its own discretion. 

"Art. XII. The Convention shall hold its meetings 
triennially, but extra meetings may be called by the Pres- 
ident, with the approbation of any one of the Boards of 
Managers. A majority of the attending delegates shall 
form a quorum for the transaction of business. 

"Art. XIII. Any alterations which experience shall 
dictate, may be made in these articles, by a vote of two- 
thirds of the members present, at any triennial meeting 
of the Convention." 



Appendix. 273 

APPENDIX F. 



RECEIPTS OF THE MISSION BOARD, 1845-1910. 

1845-6 ._ $ 11,689 05 1879 .... 36,578 22 

1847 . 17,964 97 1880 45,543 32 

1848 19,503 73 1881 46,808 45 

1849 16,727 93 1882 51,157 02 

1850 23,016 67 1883 56,904 71 

1851 21,789 01 1884 80,465 87 

1852 24,548 30 1885 -_.. 65,431 47 

1853 21,438 45 1886 83,933 02 

1854 22,741 92 1887 87,830 53 

1855 30,066 60 1888 _. 86,340 66 

1856 26,503 84 1889 99,023 75 

1857 31,932 29 1890 109,174 20 

1858 ._ 34,402 55 1891 113,522 37 

1859 .. 39,823 87 1892 114,325 80 

1860 _... 41,195 07 1893 .. 154,686 28 

1861 ._ 32,886 47 1894 106,332 69 

1862 24,347 08 1895 ----.-__-_ 129,348 72 

1863 ------ 8,634 43 1896 . - 102,056 15 

1864 . 40,299 71 1897 _- 125,681 99 

1865 28,680 05 1898 - 124,249 69 

1866 6,630 53 1899 108,716 06 

1867 . 21,667 94 1900 140,102 30 

1868 14,831 44 1901 156,083 33 

1869 19,192 41 1902 — 173,849 51 

1870 21,938 03 1903 __-- 218,512 62 

1871 25,749 30 1904 247,629 69 

1872 28,905 55 1905 283,415 88 

1873 51,023 62 1906 315,248 48 

1874 52,841 68 1907 403,811 54 

1875 30,848 58 1908 402,328 16 

1876 45,646 86 j909 460,797 62 

1877 32,287 34 1910 501,058 84 

1878 33,064 45 

18 



274 Southern Baptist Foreign Missions. 



APPENDIX G. 



STATISTICAL TABLE. SOUTHERN BAPTIST CONVEN 





MISSIONS 


CHURCH STATISTICS. 


COUNTRIES 


§ 

.a 

a 

g 

O 

1 
P 


1 
1 

O 

-£ 

B 


J. 
Ijf 

OS 

— & 
o a 

II 


§ 

I 
1 

o 


Increase 


_ :- 




1 
S 

pq 


1 


a 
o 


(5 


China 


South China 

Central China 

North China.. 

Interior China 

Total 

Total 

Total 

Total 

North Mexico 


1845 
1847 
1860 
1904 


28 
16 
17 

1 


5 

1 


61 
16 
49 
5 


566 

231 

297 

12 


89 


.... 


40 

4 

31 




10 
ft 


2 














62 


6 


131 


1,106 


105 


2 


75 


Africa 


1850 


21 


9 


20 


231 





3 


13 




Japan 


1890 


10 




11 


58 


17 





2 




Italy 


1870 


34 




80 


113 


36 


18 


32 




Mexico | 




34 
13 




68 
19 


270 
107 


35 
10 


15 




South Mexico 






Total 








47 


87 


377 


45 


15 


11 




Amazon Valley 

Pernambuco 

Bahia 

Al agoas-Maceio 

Victoria 

Campas 

Rio 

Sao Paulo 

Total 








Brazil ... 


1897 
1889 
1882 
1885 
1903 
1900 
1884 
1899 


11 

18 
32 
5 
8 
15 
10 
10 


4 

::::: 


2 
14 
45 

5 


94 18 
228 104 
335 105 

46 6 


5 

14 

21 

.... 

91 
12 
8 


24 
14 


. 


39 

2 50 
1 29 
1 16 


116 

139 

205 

91 


7 

73 
29 
51 






109 


8 200 


1,254 


393 


152 


56 




Total 




Argentina 


1903 


6 




10 


84 


11 


5 


2 


Gr«nd Totaln 




289 


23 


539 


3,223 


607 


195 


191 







Appendix. 



275 



APPENDIX G-Continued. 



TION. FOREIGN MISSIONS. FOR THE YEAR 1909-10. 



CHURCH STATISTICS. 


WORKING FORCE. 


k 

Q 


d 

1 
a 
1 


d 

i 

o 

W 


Sunday 
Schools 


a 

o 

'I 

'! 

o 
o 


Mission- 
aries 


t 

.§ 

S 


Unobdain- 

ed Native 
Helpebs. 


8 . 

11 
« 

•P 

Jo 


o 


1 

2 


■M 

|| 

a-8 


53 


4 
1 


i 

1 


i 


6 
•3 

a 


5 
9 
12 


72 

"iir 


4,235 

818 

2,223 

28 


70 

6 

26 


52 
14 
44 


1,817 

705 

1,770 


$ 6,893 99 

1,081 40 

834 18 


18 
14 
15 

4 


21 
19 
31 

4 


15 

1 
2 


72 

21 

52 

8 


29 
11 

26 

1 


9 
15 
13 

2 
















L26 


87 


7,304 


102 


110 


4,292 


$ 8,809 57 


51 


75 


18 


153 


67 


39 


6 





1,098 


27 


22 


678 


$ 3,293 00 


5 


6 


3 


42 




7 





21 


504 


8 


13 


617 


1,025 64 


8 


~ T 


6 


8 




5 


21 


66 


993 


5 


32 


744 


1,474 23 


2 


2 


25 


HI 












17 
3 


15 
13 


1,541 
459 


15 
6 


35 
11 


1,086 
314 


4,644 00 
913 03 


7 
8 


10 

8 


15 
6 


15 
5 


8 


5 
5 


20 


28 


2,000 


21 


46 


1,400 


$ 55,570 03 


15 


18 


21 


20 


8 


10 


8 


2 

62 
33 
12 
43 
156 
34 
29 


538 

1,048 

1,807 

158 

488 

1,737 

886 

423 


5 
5 
15 

1 
7 
7 
2 


9 
16 
22 

5 
10 

9 
12 

6 


456 
642 
847 
70 
243 
296 
478 
198 


5,246 10 
2,526 00 
6,510 00 
431 24 
2,676 00 
5,988 96 
6,825 82 
2,659 75 


1 
2 
5 

1 
1 
3 
3 
5 


1 

3 
5 
1 
1 
3 
3 
5 


8 
8 
12 
2 
2 
5 
1 


3 
4 
1 
2 
3 
13 
5 
2 






28 
26 
19 


i 

l 




1 
25?, 


2 




37 
14 


1 










385 


371 


7,085 


42 


89 


3,230 


$ 32,863 87 


21 


22 


38 


33 


5 




10 


5 


255 


2 


6 


195 


$ 4,400 64 


7 


7 


3 


6 














468 


578 


19,239 


207 


318 


11,156 


$ 57,423 98 


109 


137 


114 


273 1 80 


61 



276 Southern Baptist Foreign Missions. 



APPENDIX G-Continued. 



STATISTICAL TABLE. SOUTHERN BAPTIST CONVENTION, 





MISSIONS 


SCHOOL STATISTICS. 


COUNTRIES 


DAT 

Schools 


Boys' 

Boarding 

Schools 


Girls' 
Boarding 
Schools 






*S g 

*! 

<& 2 

a -8 


^ 2 

SZS 


o g 

•° 2 
SOT 


u 

•° 2 


*o g* 
-^ 2 

s-s 


China J 


South China 

Central China 

North China [. 

Interior China 

Total 


36 
11 

58 
3 


1,039 

208 

1,043 

25 


4 
2 
3 
1 


247 
116 

268 
20 


3 
2 
4 

1 


169 
103 

160 
5 




108 


2,315 


10 


651 


10 


437 




Total 1 


Africa 


6 


153 












Total 










Japan 
















Total 














Italy 


3 


159 












North Mexico 

South Mexico 

Total 










Mexico j 


6 

3 


365 
97 






1 
1 


103 
70 


1 


70 




9 


462 


1 


70 


2 


173 




Amazon Valley 

Pernambuco 

Bahia 




3 
1 
1 
2 
4 
3 


52 
74 

120 

42 

173 
64 
































Alagoas-Maceio. 

Victoria 






















Campos 












Rio 












Sao Paulo 


2 


157 










* 


Total 












16 


682 












Total 










Argentine 






























Grand Totals 


142 


3,771 


11 


721 


12 


610 







Appendix. 



277 



APPENDIX G-Continued. 



FOREIGN MISSIONS, FOR THE YEAR 1909-10— CONT'D. 



SCHOOL STATISTICS 


MEDICAL STATISTICS. 


Col- 
leges 


Women's 
Training 
Schools 


Theolog- 
ical 
Training 
Schools 


o 

B 

Z 


1 

'el 


09 

*-< <u 

Bj'fa 

V 03 

11 

^ 09 
•^ 09 

■sN 

-a 

a 


■S.9 
"&S 

Wm 
*o 

a 


4 

Qi 03 

.2 
Q 

*o 
o 

a 


0Q 

.'"8 

CM 

Ml 

53 

a 


4 



o 
& 

Xi 

a 


1 
"32 


O 09 

Ms 

go 


SB 




«4H • 

O £ 

a -8 


Si 
£8 


■Si 


a a 

■a* 

■s 

Eh 






4 
2 
1 


in 

32 
14 


1 
1 
1 


61 
40 
36 


48 
19 

77 


1,627 

548 

1,521 


5 

2 
3 

1 


i 

i 

3 


2 
1 
3 

1 


341 
45 
30 


9,601 
1,545 

~~2~998~ 


9,941 


1 


49 


1,590 
21,112 






3,028 




















1 


49 


7 


157 


3 


137 


144 


3,696 


11 


5 


7 


416 


14,144 


35,671 










1 


20 


8 


189 


1 





1 


25 


5,200 


5,225 




















1 


15 


















































1 


17 


















































1 

1 


21 
2 


8 
6 


489 
290 


















1 


20 


2 





2 




1,950 


1,950 












1 


20 


2 


23 


14 


779 


2 





2 




1,950 


1,950 












































1 


6 


2 


80 




































































2 




1 


4 


176 
































1 


85 






1 


8 


2 


93 




























































1 


85 




2 


2 


15 


8 


349 




















































































2 


134 


8 


179 


10 


227 


174 


5,013 


14 


5 


10 


441 


21,294 


42,846 



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